


30 Rules to Marriage

by delictor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Angst, Big Sister Allura, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Happy Ending, Hispanic Lance (Voltron), Lance is Hispanic, Lance's family - Freeform, Lance/Allura bonding, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, No worries, Pining, Slow Burn, Some Cursing, idk what else to tag lmao, major character death happens in like chapter 18 btw, so long way down the road
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-08-12 17:33:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7943143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delictor/pseuds/delictor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance was only trying to argue with Keith, not marry him. And even if the marriage only really counted on the one planet, he couldn't help but let it take over his every thought slowly. Especially with him constantly thinking of the 30 rules of marriage his parents had taught him as a kid and trying to apply them to him and Keith. His logic? The 30 rules could apply to even just a friendship...</p><p>Or: Lance and Keith accidentally get married and it's not actually as bad as they thought it would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rule #1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! So this is my first fic for Voltron and Klance but I have it all outlined and excited for this.

_A good proposal, one you’ll both remember forever is the start of an unforgettable marriage._

 

* * *

 

 

“On your left!” Keith shouts over the intercom and Voltron dodged the blast with ease before Keith brought their sword up and slashed down the side of the Galra ship. A nearby purple ship blasting energy into the Galra ship and finishing it off.

“I think that was the last of them.” Shiro spoke up and the others nodded in agreement despite the fact they weren't visible to each other.

“Is it just me or are they getting easier to defeat?” Hunk questioned as they disbanded Voltron and started to head for the planets surface.

“Hunk’s right, this is getting easier, like, way easier.” Lance added on, following behind Shiro as they landed just outside of the crowded castle. The planets inhabitants cheering them on as all five lions landed.

“That’s the result of team work, bonding and training.” Shiro praised at his teammates as they climbed out of their lions and met up at the center of all of them. “We’ve come a long way since our first fight, it only gets easier from here as we learn better control, better teamwork and—”

He’s cut off as a translucent purple blob clicked rather loudly at them, causing them to flinch as the sound pierced their ears. Soon the blob was taking on the shape of a human with a crown but remained purple and see through. “Hello, brave warriors. I am King of the Purpuratrabea of planet Iratusgenus. We welcome you with…with—“ the alien’s words fell silent as Allura landed the castle nearby. Her and Coran coming out and moving to stand beside the five Paladins within minutes.

“Please, pardon our late arrival but finding a sufficiently large landing spot for our castle proved to be a bit of a task.” Allura explained with a smile, Coran nodding all the while beside her.

“And you are…?” the blob questioned, looking (the Paladins could only assume) Allura up and down.

“Princess Allura of Altea. The last of my kind with Coran as my Royal Advisor and, much to his annoyance, still my care keeper in my opinion.” She answered, giving a small wave in the orange haired man’s direction.

“Why yes, yes, of course. Princess, as I was telling our brave warriors, we welcome you all with open arms a ready feast to show our many thanks for your aid in battle today.”

“Alright, dude a feast!” Lance chirped, promptly earning an elbow to the ribs from Keith. “Dude, what the—”

“Lance.” The warning in Shiro’s tone was enough to silence whatever insult and complaint had been at the tip of the Blue Paladin’s tongue. However, Lance would swear that he could _feel_ the smug rolling off of Keith after that.

“Yes, a feast in your honor. We will, as the humans say, live it up tonight.” The King cheered, the Paladins all thinking the same thing but none voicing their question. Except Pidge, of course.

“Wait, how do you know humans say that?”

“Why your reality television shows. We’re an intelligent species, we pick up signals from far away worlds to watch. Miss Kim Kardashian is one of the favorites.” He speaks with pure admiration in his tone, Lance raising an eyebrow and the others just nodding in acceptance. Allura and Coran just flat out confused as to who Kim even was. “Now please, come, come all of you. We must prepare you for the feast with our traditional hospitality routine.”

All five Paladins, Allura and Coran followed behind the king as he shifed back to his blob like form and began clicking away. Soon, seven more blobs appeared and each moved to stand by one of them, taking on the shapes of humans and Alteans.

“Please allow my servants to aid you in the feast preparation. They will bring you down once everything is ready.” The king announced before slinking off down one of the many halls. Lance glanced at everybody before shrugging and letting his purple lady lead him into one of the many doors. Inside was a large bath, the size of several tubs put together.

“Am I gonna take a bath? Because I uh—I prefer not to use shampoo and body wash and stuff that isn’t mine or, you know, from like a different planet. You guys don’t even have hair, I doubt your products would work on me, no offense.” Lance speaks with a nervous laugh at the end, rubbing at his neck and glancing between the lady and the slowly filling tub.

“It is customary for our heroes and guests of honor to participate in this cleansing.” She stated matter of fact, dipping a hand into the water and then proceeding to move about the make shift bathroom. Heading to what Lance could only assume was a wardrobe, she glanced between Lance and the inside of the thing before pulling out a purple bathrobe that looked about Lance’s size. “I shall wait outside, you must enter the tub in nothing and spend half an hour within its waters. It is a rejuvenating liquid that will cleanse you with no products required.” She explained before holding the robe out to him.

Taking it slowly between his fingers, Lance realized three things.

One, the robe was softer than anything he’d ever felt before and extremely light. He almost felt like he was holding a cloud between his fingers.

 Secondly, he realized the tub was letting off steam and it smelled of the ocean, it reminded him of the beaches from home and suddenly he was ready to climb in.

Lastly, he realized that homesickness had hit him once again and his eyes were stinging. Sucking in his bottom lip between his teeth, he nodded at the alien’s words and brought up the robe to hold against his chest.

The alien bowed to him then left the bathroom and Lance was left standing alone, blue robe in his hands and steam filling the room as he smelled the beach from home he missed.

In another room, Keith was standing in a similar position, except his robe was red and the water smelled of something sweet to him. He couldn't quite put a name to the scent but it was something sweet, sugary and familiar. And with one final glance to the door, Keith was stripping away his armor and setting it down on a nearby table. Pulling the last of his clothes off, he pulled the red robe on and couldn't help but admire how soft it felt against his bare skin. Shuffling to the stairs of the large tub, he glanced yet again to the door and then let the robe slip from his body and pool at his feet before stepping over the tubs edge and sliding into the water.

The first thing he noticed was how warm the water was. He had noticed the steam filling the room already but the tub wasn’t as hot as he’d been preparing for. It felt perfect and he almost sighed as he let his body sink lower into the liquid.  His mind wandering off within seconds, everything around him being forgotten.

Shiro was almost reluctant to let his body relax as he sat rigidly in the tub. He was glancing around the room, letting his feet kick gently through the water as his hands rubbed up and down his thighs nervously. Normally, he wouldn’t do such nervous movements but being alone, he almost felt like he could do or think anything. Slowly, his hand movements slowed down and he let his shoulders sag as he leaned against the tubs edge.

The water smelled of something fruity to him. Reminding him of his childhood days when his parents would take him down the street to the lady who sold fruit cups with a milky syrup in it. He could feel his mouth watering at the thought of having another fruit cup, one with chocolate chips in it, strawberries, bananas, apples…and then he’s remembering other childhood memories.

Pidge is standing in her robe still, leaning over the tub to let her hand swoosh through the water. Watching as the water rippled in all directions. With a heavy sigh, she let her robe fall and she almost feels the need to use her hands to cover herself before remembering she’s alone. Slipping in, she swallowed hard and began to waddle through the water, wanting to see if it got any deeper. When it didn’t she dropped to her knees and let her head dip below the surface, holding her breath for as long as possible before resurfacing. Gasping lightly for air, she shook her head, water flying in every direction then flopping backwards, she let her body float.

The smell of cinnamon filled her nose as she drifted around the large tub, eye focused on the rooms ceiling. She could almost taste the cinnamon cookies her mother made every few weeks. She could almost hear her brother laughing as they played tag around the kitchen table and their father told them to settle down but laughed with them anyway. She could almost hear her mother sighing but giggling as they raced around, pulling at chairs, bumping against the table and dragging the chairs, causing them to screech against the hardwood floors.

She could almost feel the homesickness settling in the pit of her stomach as she floated in the water for several more minutes.

Hunk was quick to climb into the tub, especially when it smelled of all his favorite foods. He had no complaints, the robe had been silky soft, had fit, the water had been warm and he felt like royalty. All in all, it was the best bath he’d ever taken in his life. Even with the sudden memories of his childhood flooding his mind.

Allura sat in the dead center of the tub, the water reaching just below her shoulders, her hair floating in all directions around her. Her bangs dripped slowly as she had dipped her head below the surface just minutes ago. The water smelled of Altean flowers, of the fields she had trained in, played in, the fields she had napped in as a child. Of something sweet and warm and _familiar_.

Her stomach turned and twisted as she remembered her family, her home, of everything she had lost and the ability to never go back. Her hands reached up and out of the warm water to pull some of her hair into her hands, rolling it between her fingers. Playing with the wet strands before her shoulders began to shake and tears roll down her face, the memories flooding her mind the more she tried to forget them. It was the worst case of homesickness she’d ever felt.

Keith sat with his eyes closed, his breathing slow as he thought of each family he’d ever lived with. He remembered his mother and father but not clearly, he hadn’t lived with them very long. Just three years, anything he remembered was more... from pictures and his made up memories. His parents had been taken away, not by other humans, not even by other aliens. No, by something he could never get them back from. Death. After that he had drifted from home to home until he was seven and moved in with Shiro’s family. He remembered Shiro being sixteen and in his second year at the Garrison. He remembered Shiro staring at him from the kitchen before coming out to talk to him. Aliens. That was the first thing they had talked about.

They had spent hours talking and… and the rest was history. Shiro had taken Keith under his wing as a brother almost immediately and everything had been fine until he was ten. Ten and going to that stupid space club when his adoptive parents were killed in an accident and he fully blamed himself. He and Shiro stayed together after that, they lived at the Garrison and Keith tried his best to move past it the way Shiro seemed to. And then Shiro went on several missions and Keith watched and supported him, trying his hardest at the Garrison his first year at school. His second year had been going fine until Shiro and his crew had gone missing and then declared dead. He remembered his rebellious personality taking form again and he was quickly expelled at the end of his second year. After that, spending his days looking for a way to bring Shiro home.

He didn’t want to remember all of this, he didn’t want to remember his childhood and everything that had been wrong with it. But it felt like the harder he tried to forget, the harder he remembered. And his shoulders began to shake and he did something he hadn’t done since he was twelve.

Keith cried.

Lance had been quick to let his tears flow. He had remembered his family the instant he slipped into the tub. He remembered his family, all of his siblings, his mother, father, grandparents, he remembered his niece and nephews. He remembered the holidays together and the mess the house became when everybody was there. The monthly get together his extended family hosted.

He remembered the sounds of waves crashing against the beach near his home and the screams of kids splashing through the waters. He remembered holding seashells to his ears to hear the ocean when he was at the Garrison. He remembered everything and it almost felt draining. He wasn’t crying hard like he’d expected, just letting tears roll down his cheeks as he let the memories flood his head. And then he nearly jumped out of his skin as the alien lady walked back into the room.

“If I may, I will only be a minute as I set your outfit for tonight on the table for you.” She explained, walking in after Lance signaled for her to enter. He noticed she held what looked like a gown in her hands. It was blue and floor length with purple lining the collar and dipping into a single purple line that went straight down the front. The end of the sleeves were purple as well and he could faintly see purple lines swirling all over the gown. Letting the dress drape off the end of the table, the woman told Lance he could now leave the tub and change. She would be back in a few minutes.

Once she had left, he climbed out, pulling the cloud like robe back over his wet skin and heading to the table, hoping the outfit for the night was equally as soft and light as his bathrobe. His mood almost instantly picked up when he left the tub and he shot a worrying look at the water. Huffing, he turned his attention back to the gown and tilted his head in confusion, had they maybe brought him Allura’s outfit on accident?

Nonetheless, he used the robe to dry his skin and let the now soaked robe drape over a nearby chair before pulling on the gown. Thankful it was just as soft and warm as the robe had been. The gown reached to the floor and as he walked around the room he worried he’d step on it and fall, making a fool of himself. Adjusting to the feeling of wearing a _dress_ , Lance wanted to admit it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be.

True to her word, the alien lady was back within minutes and ushering Lance out of the room. She promised they would bring his gear to their ship but for now, it could remain in the room. She led him down several halls, back the way they had originally come in and upon coming out, Lance’s mouth dropped. At the bottom of the castles steps was a long stretching table covered in all types of assorted foods and just past the large table were several tables as long as football fields and crowds of the purple species.

“Lance?” said person glanced to the side where Keith stood in a similar outfit to his. Except Keith’s was red with his lines a dark gray.

“Yeah?”

“Uh—are the others out here yet?” Keith asked, eyes drifting over Lance’s own outfit.

“Not yet, I think we’re the first one’s out.” He answered, glancing back to the large crowd. “Hunk is gonna freak when he sees all this food.” Lance muttered more to himself than Keith.

“Yeah, it actually looks good.” The raven haired boy commented, eyes drifting from food item to food item.

“Guys?” both boys turned to see Pidge walking towards them with a similar gown to theirs but hers was green with orange lines. “Did they make you guys take a bath too? I dunno about you guys but that was probably the most depressing bath I’ve ever taken.” She complained, coming to stop between the two taller boys.

“Agreed.” Keith answered and Lance simply nodded.

“Is that—do I smell food. Like, _real_ food? No goo?” and the words were followed by a sniffle as Hunk all but crashed into the three other Paladins. His eyes almost instantly filled with tears as he spotted the long table and he gasped loudly, hand moving to slap across his mouth. “It is…there is a God out there. He is listening.” He whispered and Lance snickered at his best friend’s words, Pidge and Keith rolling their eyes.

Soon, Shiro, Allura and Coran joined them, all in similar outfits. Shiro wore a black one with white lines. Allura a light pink with soft blue lines on her dress. And Coran wore a dark blue gown with gold lines on his. Once everybody had arrived, the King took on the shape of a human yet again and called for silence.

“Today we gather to show gratitude to our heroes. The Paladins, Princess Allura of Altea and her Royal Advisor Coran of Altea. Side by side with us, they helped us defeat our long time captor, the Galra. They have brought freedom and glory back to our home planet and have sworn to bring the Galra down once and for all. Tonight we feast and pledge our allegiance to…to….”

“Team Voltron: Legendary Defenders.” Lance provided with a smug look on his face and a disapproving huff from the others.

“To Team Voltron: Legendary Defenders!” the King repeated loud enough for his kingdom to hear. Cheers followed his words and the king turned to face them all. “Please, find seats around the table, the feast will begin soon.”

Doing as they were told, they all took seats side by side. Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Shiro, Allura and Coran, in that order. When the King nodded for them to grab food and they did, he stood and made a loud click and the rest of the aliens began to eat. The dinner was going by smoothly, jokes being cracked, compliments being tossed around and the constant moan and groan of satisfaction from them when they tasted something new and delicious.

At one point, Keith had accidentally elbowed Lance and a small dispute had started only to end when Hunk shoved Lance and signaled to the King who had been watching the two boys argue. Or, they only assumed he had been since he returned to eating when the arguing came to a sudden stop. Continuing to eat, Lance grabbed for some food only to find his fingers coated in some kind of sauce. Licking them one by one he heard Keith give a disgusted grunt at the action. Tilting his head to look at the Red Paladin, Lance smirked.

“What’s wrong Keith? Can’t take a little finger licking?” he cackled, sucking on his index finger and pulling it from between his lips with a loud pop just to piss Keith off further.

“Lance stop, that’s disgusting.”

“Why? It’s just sauce on my fingers, I’m not about to let it go to waste.” He retorted before reaching out to touch Keith’s face with his still wet fingers. Yet, Keith was quick to slap at Lance’s wrist, avoiding his fingers at all costs.

“Lance, I swear.” He warned, shooting the Blue Paladin a death glare.

“You won’t do shit mullet boy; I know you won’t.” he smirked before returning to his meal. Reaching for his drink, he held it up to his lips before Keith reached out, smacking the end of the cup and letting the juice spill all over Lance's face and chest.

“Keith!” he shrieked, slamming the cup down and fully turning in his seat to stare at his “rival” face to face.

“Lance, stop yelling.” Shiro called out from down the table and Keith nodded in agreement.

“Yeah Lance, stop yelling.” And as the words left Keith's lips, Lance grabbed another cup of juice and spilled it down Keith’s front. The raven haired boy going wide eyed and reaching out to shove at Lance’s shoulder. Lance fell back against Hunk and spit out a quick apology to his friend before moving to shove Keith back only to have his wrist be caught and forced back against him.

“Keith!”

“Lance!”

“Stop being a brat!”

“I’m not a brat, you are!” Keith snapped back, both trying to shove each other before Keith sent his foot flying under the table and kicked Lance’s shin hard. Most likely hard enough to leave a bruise in the morning. At the kick though, Lance yelped out and roughly shoved his chair back, hip hitting the table as he tried to tower over Keith. His hand flying up beside his head, index finger pointed up while the rest of his fingers were balled up and his eyes narrowed in anger.

Keith almost felt scared of the dark skinned boy. Almost.

“Keith! I oughta…I—I” his words go unfinished when a loud gasp catches everybody’s attention. Lance forgets his sudden fit of anger when he sees the King shift back into his human form and kneel in their direction. His hand drops back to his side and he raised a confused eyebrow before Allura gasped and whispered a very faint _oh my_ while looking at the crowd.

Lance let his eyes drift to the crowd and his stomach dropped when he saw they had all taken on the shape of a human and were kneeling in their direction. Coughing awkwardly, Lance quickly lowered himself to sit back in his chair, his argument with Keith now long forgotten.

After several long and awkward minutes of the entire planet kneeling for them, the king stood and faced the crowd.

“Today we have witnessed not only our freedom being restored but our first marriage in centuries!” the crowd cheered at his words and suddenly both Keith and Lance were pale in the face, both their meals threatening to make a reappearance.

“Lance…what did you do?”

“Keith, I didn’t do anything, I swear, it’s not always my fault. I just—”

“The Blue and Red Paladins have engaged in the ceremonial argument.” The King announced, turning to face the Paladins, all equally confused but none as pale and sick looking as Keith and Lance.

And at the sudden realization that Lance could very well now be married because of some crazy alien planet, his mind flashed to something his parents had told him. There were thirty rules to a happy marriage. And Lance had already broken the first one... kind of.

_A good proposal, one you’ll both remember forever is the start of an unforgettable marriage._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So??? What did you guys think? Drop me a comment below or drop me an ask on my blog [Bluemcclain](http://bluemcclain.tumblr.com/) and I'll try to get back to everybody as quickly as possible! If you liked it, you should totally recommend it to your friends by the way! c:


	2. Rule #2

_Never be angry at the same time unless you’re angry at somebody else and not each other._

 

* * *

 

 

Lance’s heart felt ready to either explode or fly out of his chest. He wasn't really sure which was worse but either option was better than what was currently taking place. The crowd and King of the Purpuratrabea’s were cheering with everything they had in them while Lance was still trying to process what had just happened.

_The first marriage in centuries._

_The ceremonial argument._

_The Blue and Red Paladin’s…_

_Oh Christ, he had just married Keith!_

And no matter how hard Lance wanted to stand and scream and protest, his body didn’t move. And neither did Keith who sat beside him in stunned silence. Lance felt more and more sick to his stomach as the seconds ticked ( _ha_ ) by. But neither he or Keith were the first to protest, no, that was all Shiro.

“There’s been some kind of misunderstanding.” he spoke, pushing his chair back and bringing himself to stand and look at the king. “They aren’t—they’re not even dating, they didn’t mean to cause any confusion.” He explained and the King simply shook his head and waved his hand in Shiro’s direction as if to dismiss him. 

Beside Shiro, Allura tugged on his sleeve to catch his attention and shook her head lightly, signaling for him to sit back down. Reluctantly, he sat and shot Lance and Keith an apologetic look. His best  _I tried_  look.

“They might not have known but it is tradition. The couple argues, bickers as the saying goes,  _like an old married couple_  and when they feel ready, the bride stands taller and over the groom, hand in the air and finger pointed to assert her role. B-but seeing as both Paladins are male, this still works.” He quickly added.

“That’s so…” Lance isn’t sure what to call it. Oddly specific? A major coincidence? Perhaps a lie? He almost felt like he was being set up, like the King was making it up on the spot to make them look like complete idiots but nothing comes out and especially not after Keith begins to talk.

“Pfft, Lance you’re the bride, isn’t that ironic Mr. Beauty Queen?” Keith teased beside him, face still a deadly pale and laughter almost sounding forced from him. Was that Keith’s way of dealing with a situation he had no idea what to do with? Crack a joke? 

_Of all the times for him to make a joke..._

“Keith you’re an idiot, we just accidentally got married and you’re making a joke for the first time ever and calling me a girl? Are you out of your mind!” Lance all but shouted, hands shooting above his head to empathize how serious the situation was. The forced smile quickly disappearing from Keith’s lips but a snicker from both Pidge and Hunk filled the air.

“Here I was thinking I was the only girl dressed as a guy on the ship.” Pidge whispered to Hunk a little too loudly earning a snort from the larger boy. Shiro groaning at how lightly they were all taking the situation.

“Shiro! Do something, I’m  _not_  about to be married to Keith for the rest of my life. I mean, do you see the way this kid dresses and styles his hair? He’s a walking train wreck!”

“Hey! Like you’ve got any room to ta--”

“Enough.” Keith is cut off as the King slammed his hands on the tables surface, making a few clicking noises and pointing to the two of them. Soon, two aliens are standing beside Keith and Lance, ushering them to their feet and down to the end of the long table. Shiro made a move to stand and follow but Allura grabbed at his shoulder to keep him in place.

Lance and Keith stood awkwardly as the King slapped a hand on either of their shoulders and stood between the two of them.

“Sir, there really has been a big misunderstanding, we’re not—”

“I did say enough, correct? It is forbidden to take back a proposal and marriage on our planet. To do that would be to disgrace and tarnish our reputation. Especially with the first marriage in centuries and our first  _foreign_  marriage in history.” He snapped, Lance swallowing hard at the realization that they had really,  _really_ , royally fucked up. It felt like the weight of the universe had been placed on his shoulders, it was almost worse than when he’d been told he had to protect the entire universe as a Paladin of Voltron.

“If you would like to call off the wedding then we will be forced to deny your offer of alliance. And you will be required to leave our home immediately.” He answered, hands slowly leaving their shoulders. Lance’s eyes darted to Keith’s face only to find he’d already been looking at him.

“Can we have a minute to talk this over?” Keith requested and the King nodded, slinking off to sit at his throne at the end of the table once again. Both boys quickly made their way to their group of friends and were immediately asking Allura and Shiro for help. How would they handle this, what were they doing, was this considered a real marriage on all planets?

“Calm down, deep breathes,” Allura soothed, hand moving to rub up and down Keith’s upper arm calmingly. “We will discuss this as a team. We will not force the two of you to do anything you are _not_ comfortable with, but…” her words fall silent and Lance almost wishes she hadn’t spoken in the first place. He had a feeling he knew what she was about to say. And sure enough, Shiro finished the sentence for her.                    

“But we need this alliance. We need every alliance we can get and the two of you unknowingly did something that could either make or break that alliance.” He finished, earning a pout from Lance and a nervous look from Keith.

“The marriage here should mean nothing back on Earth, if that helps any.” Coran piped in, Pidge poking in to look over Shiro’s shoulder and Hunk standing, looking over Shiro and Pidge. “This planet holds no official documentation of weddings and such, their bodies become linked and they share a certain aura once married. It’s how they know when somebody is married or not. You two could be married here and nowhere else in the universe.” Coran stated using his _matter of fact_ tone, Lance began to chew on his bottom lip before looking yet again, at Keith.

“Fine.” Keith shrugs.

“What?! You’re okay with this?” Lance sputtered, eyes as wide as softballs and cheeks turning a bright pink. “But—but we hate each other basically, how are you even slightly okay with being married to me?”

“Correction, you  _think_ we hate each other. Lance we don’t argue like we used to, now we do it because it just feels like a routine, like it’s part of our friendship. If you’re willing to turn down an alliance because of some stupid made up rivalry, then you’re putting the whole universe at risk. You’re being an idiot.” Keith spat out, having turned to face Lance and jab a finger into the taller boy’s chest with each word he spoke.

Lance had no words for what Keith said. He knew he was right but he didn’t want to admit it. Didn’t want to agree to be married to Keith even if it was on just this planet. But he also didn’t want to seem selfish as Keith had implied.

“Well? Are you going to get your head out of your ass and just agree? Or are you going to—”

“Fine.”

“Wait, what? Lance, you actually did the mature thing?” Pidge spoke in awe as the rest rose their eyebrows in surprise.

“Shove a sock in it Pidge, I’m a mature adult.” Lance growled back, arms crossing over his chest.

“Dude, chill, it’s just a small wedding. You don’t have to like kiss and do the do with Keith. Stop acting like you have a stick up your butt.” Pidge snapped back, Hunk slapping a hand over his mouth to try and stop his laughter, Allura smiling and Shiro sighing.

“Alright, that’s enough, Lance, Keith… thank you. You guys are really doing the universe a big favor right now.” Shiro praised them, hand moving up to give Lance's shoulder a light and supportive squeeze.

“Yeah well the universe better give me an expensive blender and some good food for the rest of our time in space as a wedding gift.” Lance huffed, Keith rolling his eyes at him.

“Oh grow up Lance.” Keith breathed out before grabbing for Lance’s wrist and starting to pull him back to where the King was waiting. Only, Lance yanked his hand away and glared at Keith, cradling his wrist close to his chest like it had been snapped in half.

“Don’t touch me though. This is fake, you don’t have to touch me.” Lance huffed, shoving past a surprised and angry Keith.

“Here I was thinking we’d bond again.” Keith quickly shot back but followed behind the other. Getting back to the King, they exchanged looks and a nod then looked to the King together. “We’re going to go through with it. The marriage.” Keith spoke and the King seemed to perk up, shifting then standing to hug them at once.

“Good, good!” he turned to look at the crowd again, arms raised above his head. “The celebration continues!” and again the air was filled with screams and cheers of joy.

The rest of the night felt like a blur to everybody. It felt like every alien on the planet went up to Keith and Lance to congratulate them on their marriage. There was one specific alien that Keith would remember, one he could only assume was a girl.

“Congratulations hero.” She had started, voice soft and low as she held out her hand for Keith to shake.

“Um… thanks.” He answered, shaking her hand gingerly before smiling slightly at her.

“I hope to one day marry like you. Your auras… they dance when near each other and their colors brighten into something I’ve never seen before… they give us hope.” She spoke, each word leaving her… leaving her with confidence.

“Our auras? What—what do they look like?” Keith asked, eyes darting up to look at Lance’s back as he stood a few feet away, chatting with Hunk and some aliens.

“Yours is a bright white when you’re near him. But when you aren’t it becomes a dull gray. His is a soft blue when he’s with you and a dark blue when he’s without you. The colors swirl together and seem to hold onto each other when you’re near.” She answered, her hands clasping together. “It’s the best clash of auras I’ve-- _any_ of us have ever  witnessed.” She spoke with awe in her voice and Keith felt a tug in his gut. Coran had said it wouldn’t be a big deal but… their auras were dancing? How the hell was he supposed to deal with that?

“Thanks for explaining that. I uh—I’m gonna go over there.” He whispered, excusing himself to go stand with Shiro and Allura.

“Hey Keith, how’s the married life treating you so far?” Shiro teased, earning a soft punch to his arm.

“Shut up.”

Shiro held his hands up in defense and Allura muffled a giggle with her hand.

“Cheer up Keith, it could be worse. It could have been an accidental execution instead.” She offered with a laugh but the boys cringed at the morbid joke instead.

“Yeah… anyway though, are we leaving soon? I’m ready to get off this planet and forget this whole marriage thing Lance caused.”

“I didn’t cause it! It’s not my fault I oddly did the very specific ritual of marriage.” Lance snapped, forcing his way between Keith and Allura. “I had a question though, earlier when we were all taking baths and what not, did the water like… make you guys cry?”

Nobody answered right away and that alone was enough for him to guess their responses to his question. “Because I felt like it was a major invasion of privacy that it forced me to think about my childhood and my family and how much I miss them.” He continued, voice cracking when he spoke the word  _family_.

“It was a spiritual bath.” Coran provided immediately. “This planet, they thrive on emotion more than food. Feelings of anger is their feelings of love. It is how they show affection while feelings of sorrow and pain provide energy for their home planet. Their hospitality ceremony allows their castle to feed on your emotions.” He explains, the others grimacing as his words explain what had happened.

“Well, I for one, never want to feel that again.” Lance declared almost immediately.

“Agreed.” The others chimed in afterwards.

At one point, Lance had gone off to the table with food to pick through the different options for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Keith had made his way over to the table as well and stood beside Lance. Neither spoke but they stood side by side, alone for the first time since their marriage.

“I guess this should be a lesson about arguing, right?” Lance spoke bitterly, tilting his head to look at Keith who puffed out his cheeks, slowly letting out the air before smiling and nodding slowly.

“It was bound to happen.”

“U-us getting married?” Lance asked, stumbling back a step and earning an aggravated groan from Keith.

“No, moron, something stupid like this was bound to happen on  _some_  planet. It just happened to be this one and it happened to be a marriage. But something stupid happened, it always happens eventually.” He cleared up, arms crossing over his chest and sighing.

“Oh… yeah, right, right. Especially with you around.” Lance joked.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you calling me stupid?”

“If the shoe fits.” Lance smirked, swallowing back a laugh.

“At least I’m not the bride in this relationship, that, that’s all you Lance.” Keith laughed, head tilting back and eyes shutting as he let laughter roll from his body. Lance didn't laugh but he also didn't scowl at Keith, instead he watched the way Keith’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed so freely. He looked at the way his crossed arms had slipped to press tightly against his chest and his shoulders shook a bit as he laughed.

Shaking his head, Lance narrowed his eyes and let out a dry laugh. “At least I’m the pretty one in this relationship.” He commented back, Keith snickering at him, lopsided smile being shot in his direction.

“Right, right, whatever floats your boat Lance.”

“Paladins.” at that word, both boys turned to look at the King as he approached them, hands clasped together and held against his chest. “My people we wondering if you would be so kind as to provide one kiss for them before you left?”

“K-kiss?” both of them question, looking between themselves and the King who nodded his head eagerly.

“Can you give us just a minute?” Keith asked and forcibly pulled Lance away with him. “I didn’t agree to any kissing and neither did you.”

“I know! I didn’t say yes; you’re yelling at me like I said yes!” Lance snapped at him.

“I didn’t accuse you of saying yes! I just said that we didn’t agree to this. What are we going to do? I’m  _not_  about to kiss you.”

“Well who said I wanted to kiss _you_?”

“We can’t just leave either. They’ll know something's up if we say no.” Keith groaned, gaze shifting to where the King stood eagerly watching them. “I think we’re going to have to kiss. It doesn’t seem like we have another choice.”

“Look, I get you want to kiss me but—”

“Lance! This is beyond serious, stop joking!” Keith cut him off. “It’s just one kiss, small, barely even happened. Got it? You go tell the King we’ll do it and I’ll go tell the others we’re leaving as soon as it happens. No playing around, Lance, I’m just ready to get off this planet.” Lance nodded in response and watched as Keith walked away.

He wanted to feel angry, he really did and he knew Keith was already angry about the whole situation but all he could think about was rule number two of the thirty for a happy marriage.

_Never be angry at the same time unless you’re angry at somebody else and not each other_.

He wasn’t sure if this rule was being broken or not. They were both angry but was the anger directed at each other? Or the King, his people, this planet and their stupid play on emotions and angry weddings? He really couldn’t tell but at that moment, Lance decided this wasn’t worth being angry over. It almost felt like some kind of sick prank on them. And he decided to follow rule two. He wouldn’t be angry, not at Keith, not at the King, not at his people, not at the way their weddings worked and he would definitely not be angry at himself.

And so, off he went to tell the King they would kiss just once for his people.

“Shiro, Allura. We’re leaving.” Keith announced, walking up to the group.

“Aw, but the food here is great, can’t we stay just a little longer?” Hunk questioned, plate held tightly in his hand and eating utensil in the other.

“No.” Keith deadpanned, looking away from the larger teen to look at Shiro and Allura once again. “The King wants Lance and I to kiss. We agreed to one small kiss and then we want off this planet. We’re tired and I’m over this fake wedding thing.”

“Of course, I’ll go prep the ship for take-off.” Allura agreed, taking Coran with her.

“Are you both okay with… what they’re asking of you guys?” Shiro asked and Keith wanted to huff and answer a sarcastic  _yes, dad_  but he didn't.

“Honestly? No. But we talked it over and we're toughing it out. It's just one stupid kiss and without it they'll think something is up. Don't worry about it.” He answered, careful not to say they all but shouted while discussing what they’d do.

“Alright, if you’re sure. We’ll wait for you guys and—”

“No. Just get on the ship, the sooner we can leave, the better. It’ll be a quick kiss, once it’s over I swear we better be off this planet in two minutes or I’ll personally take over this planet and make sure they never have another wedding.”

Shiro raised both eyebrows and whistled. “Alright, Pidge, Hunk, let’s go. Keith, if you guys need anything, just call us back.”

“Aright.” And with that they parted ways. The three paladins headed off and Keith slowly turned to head back to Lance and the King.

“Our guests of honor have graciously agreed to gift us with one kiss. A farewell and gift to all of us.” The King announced, stepping to the side to let Lance and Keith stand there awkwardly.

“Um… so just. We…” Lance stumbled over words as he scratched at his neck, laughing nervously at Keith.

“Right.” The raven haired boy nodded, breaking eye contact to look at Lance’s lips. They looked chapped, something he hadn’t exactly expected considering how much Lance cared for his general appearance. “Are your lips chapped?”

“Huh? Oh, oh yeah. I’ve been chewing on my bottom lip all night, sorry if… it tastes a little… weird.” He laughed, taking a step forward. “Do we just, like, a quick together then done or…?”

“Yeah. We’re just—” Keith was absolutely  _done_  with his sentences being cut off. He would’ve said something but instead he stumbled forward as a hand was pressed to his back and he was shoved forward rather harshly. He stumbled, crashing right into Lance, hands falling to rest against the barely taller boy’s chest. Lance had immediately brought his hands up to catch Keith and they now rested against both of Keith’s upper arms.

“Are you… okay?” Lance asked, eyes darting between Keith’s lips and eyes.

“Yeah. Just-just get it over with, okay?” Keith answered, hand reaching up to rest on the back of Lance’s head and pull it down, pressing their lips together. He immediately felt the chappedness of Lance’s lips against his own and he wanted to make the kiss last a little longer but he remembered they agreed for a quick press together and over.

So Keith lowers himself from his toes and lets his hand slip away from Lance’s head before stepping back and clearing his throat. Avoiding any and all eye contact, Keith bows to the people, whispering a soft  _thank you for hosting us_  to the King and then began to all but run towards the castle.

Lance however, stood frozen in place, heart racing at the sudden lip to lip contact. He’d been fully prepared for a kiss, but hadn’t even thought about what the other boy’s lips would feel like. They had been soft, almost reminding him of the soft cloud like robe from earlier. Without realizing it, Lance had lifted a hand to touch his lips, cheeks burning and everything going white for less than a second.

_Did that really just..?_

And he realized they were actually following the second rule. He wasn’t the least bit angry towards anything or anybody. And for a second… but only a second, Lance forgot the wedding hadn’t been real and the rules didn’t really  _need_  to apply to him and Keith. But the thought of following all the rules made his stomach twist and turn in a good way.

“Thank you for hosting us.” Lance spoke softly to the King before heading back to the castle. He knew they were meant to forget this whole wedding thing but he wanted to drag it out as long as possible now. He wanted to tease Keith about it, call him names like  _darling, love, amor_  and so many more. But only as a joke, only to lighten the mood.

And he thought, maybe this wasn’t so bad. Maybe this was what they needed to cause some laughter among them all. He could use this as an excuse to tease Keith nonstop and get the others to laugh. Maybe he could even get Keith flustered. And lance couldn’t help it, he laughed to himself at the idea of Keith turning a bright red and becoming a stuttering mess. He made it his goal to get to see that Keith after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that? Both Lance and Keith are lowkey pining rn but don't realize it. Also! Keith will be gay in this and Lance will be bisexual. Also, I know I switch between past and present tenses sometimes and I'm sorry!! English isn't my first language so I do it without realizing it. If it really bothers anybody I can go back and fix it though!
> 
> And also, I'm trying to keep the narrative focused on Lance's thought for the most part (third person limited) but occasionally I'll reveal some of the other's thoughts and emotions.


	3. Rule #3

_Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire._

 

* * *

 

 

Lance is on the ship (in the castle?) and minutes later they take off. He managed to catch up to Keith before they got to their rooms and they walk in silence.

“Your lips are _really_ chapped.” Keith finally broke the silence and Lance nearly jumped away from him.

“What?”

“Your lips,” Keith repeated, tapping his own as if Lance were some kind of idiot. “They’re chapped, like really chapped for somebody who supposedly cares about his looks a lot.”

“Oh. Yeah, that happens when I chew on them while I’m nervous, remember? I mentioned that... I was chewing on them during the whole festival thing.” Lance explained and Keith just nodded. The rest of their walk was silent except for the constant pitter patter of their shoes hitting the floor.

“Well… goodnight.” Lance hadn’t even realized they’d already reached their rooms. Glancing around he nodded and waved at Keith as he stepped into his room.

“Goodnight.” He didn't speak until Keith’s door was shut and he was almost certain the raven haired boy hadn’t even heard him. Shuffling into his own room, he’s quick to change into his sleeping attire and sit on the edge of his bed. Far too tired to bother with the face mask he did most nights.

With a heavy sigh, Lance flopped back against his mattress, arm smacking against the wall a soft _ow_ escaping his lips as he went to rub his arm. It hadn’t actually hurt, it’d just been more of a reflex to react that way. Just like how it seemed natural to always bicker with Keith. It was part of their rivalry and it was reflex to always jab at the other boy when he got the chance.

Letting his arms fall to rest at his sides on the mattress, his eyes drifted to the ceiling and he was struck with homesickness. His ceiling had no stars like his bedroom at home did. Even his room in the Garrison had stars on the ceiling. And despite being in space with _actual_ stars everywhere… it wasn’t the same as having the little green lights strewn across his ceiling to look at and count until he fell asleep.

And the thought of his glow in the dark stars reminded him of his parents and his not-so-official marriage. And the next rule his parents had told him in that long list of thirty.

_Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire._

And he couldn’t help but snort at that rule. He and Keith? They yelled at each other every chance they got, there was no way they’d ever get past that rule unless one of them carried a lit torch at all times. Lance knew this wasn’t a real marriage and they had no reason to follow all these rules but somehow, thinking about following them made everything feel more bearable. Sure the marriage only counted on that one planet but it made Lance feel like he had a reason to bond and get along with Keith now.

Shoving the thought of Keith aside, he thought about the rule longer. Had he ever heard his parents yell at each other? He remembered them arguing but they had never yelled. He remembered one time his mother _had_ yelled; the stove had been on fire. Well—more like the oven but still, the memory brought up laughter from Lance’s throat. He remembered the day clear as day, they’d been doing spring cleaning and his mom had turned on the self-cleaning on the stove’s oven. Not even ten minutes later their fire alarm was going off, the stove was spewing out smoke and his mom was screaming. She was shouting his dad's name, screaming for him to do something and Lance had stood by not knowing what to do. He’d only been ten when it happened.

He remembered his dad running in, confused as to why she was shouting and then spotting the on fire stove. The fire hadn’t exactly taken up the entire stove yet, it was still inside the oven and Lance had thought the fire was trapped inside the stove. Then, his mom did the last thing he would’ve expected. She pulled on the stove and began to drag it across the kitchen, pulling the cord from the outlet and causing sparks to fly as his dad shouted at her to stop. They argued louder than he’d ever heard them as his mom pulled the stove all the way to the laundry room and shoved it through their backdoor into the backyard. He remembered his older brother Milo running out with the fire extinguisher and handing it to his dad. And even if his parents had been yelling for the first time, they ended up laughing after the fire was put out. It was the perfect example of _never yell at each other unless the house is on fire_.

And that was the last thing he thought about before drifting to sleep. Probably sleeping more comfortably than he had since coming to space.

The following morning Lance woke up earlier than usual and was even the third to get to the dining hall (Hunk and Coran being the first in order to make breakfast for the rest of them).

“Hey Lance,” Hunk greeted him mindlessly before pausing what he was doing and looking at Lance again. “Uh—wait are you—? Lance? What time is it?”

“Time for breakfast.” Lance shrugged, kicking his feet up on the table only to earn a stern look from Coran. “Sorry,” he mumbled, letting his feet slide off the edge of the table and hit the ground. “I’unno, it’s early, why?”

“ _Oooh_ , I get it, I’m dreaming.” Hunk laughed, returning to the task of making breakfast. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be up this early or the first to get here.”

“Why is it so hard to believe I’m up before everybody else?”

“Hey Hunk and Coran, are we havi—” Pidge fell silent the moment she spotted Lance sitting at the table and she looked from him to Hunk.

“I know, right? I’m fully convinced I’m in a dream right now.” Hunk answered without Pidge questioning him. Lance simply made a face at the both of them and leaned back in his chair.

“You guys are unbelievable.”

“Wait—did I just hear Lance? Lance you’re here before me, Allura and Shiro?” and with Keith’s words filling the air, it officially signaled everybody had arrived.

 “What the quiznak is wrong with everybody? It’s not that hard to believe I’m up early!”  he huffed, scolding everybody.

"My, he's even used quiznak correctly now." Coran gasped, the others chuckling with him as the comment only seemed to make Lance seeth with anger even more.

“Maybe we accidentally picked up an alien somewhere and left Lance behind.” Pidge teased, taking a seat to Lance’s left.

“Stuff a sock in it shortcakes.”

“Or, _or, or_ maybe his marrying Keith has been a really good thing on him.” Hunk piped up, the others chuckling further at it except Lance.

“Keith has nothing to do with it. I just went to bed early is all.” Lance huffed for the millionth time that morning. “Can we just eat and go train or whatever?”

After that the controversy on Lance’s early arrival died out and everybody took their seats for breakfast. Keith took his usual spot beside Lance but talked across the table with Shiro and Allura. Lance sat in silence for most of breakfast, stirring his food around and taking the occasional bite.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Blinking a few times, Lance looked up to the source of the question. Keith had set his fork down and was looking straight at Lance with an eyebrow raised at him. “Huh?”

“What’s. Wrong. With. You?” Keith repeated, empathizing each word of his question. “You’ve been quiet all of breakfast, that’s not like you.”

“Nothing’s wrong, just… I was thinking.” He shrugged, pushing his chair back and standing. “Hey Shiro? Are we gonna be training soon? I might go get a head start and clear my mind.”

“Yeah, it’ll be about an hour or two until then though. Allura and I need to discuss our next move and—”

“Alright, that works.” Lance piped up without letting Shiro finish. “I’ll see you guys later.” He announced taking his dishes with him and heading out, leaving everybody relatively confused.

“Lance is… worrying me today.” Allura announced, eyes still staring at the doorway Lance had just left through.

“I’d say Lance might be a tad bit homesick. I’ve seen him like this before,” Coran spoke up, catching everybody’s attention. “He misses his family and he often talks about…  _rain_.”

“Oh yeah, yeah Lance loves the rain and the beach. And he used to get homesick at the Garrison too but he could always just pick up the phone and call home.” Hunk mumbled. “Oh, I know we could have Pidge build one of her fancy phone things and use it to call Lance’s family for him.”

“Hunk… we’re really, _really_ far from Earth. It would take years to build something strong enough to call his family.” Pidge stated immediately tossing the idea through the window.

Keith sighed and promptly stood. “I’ll go talk to him.” And all eyes fell on him, causing him to want to shrink away from the attention. “If anything I’ll get him to poke some fun at me and maybe get him to laugh.” Keith shrugged, picking up his things and heading out after Lance.

“Thirty-two.”

There’s a grunt from Lance then—

“Thirty-three.”

He’s going for another few when his right hand slipped and suddenly he was faceplanting into the floor. Groaning, he pushed himself up to sit on his knees and rub his chin.

“That was pretty funny.”

“K-Keith!” Lance shrieked, jumping to his feet and clutching his chest. “God, we need to get you a bell or something so you don’t give anybody else a heart attack.”

“Ha-ha,” with a roll of his eyes, Keith moved across the training deck to stand by Lance. “So are you going to tell me what’s wrong with you now or what?” Lance shrugged, turning away from him and the question and moved to grab his drink from the bench.

“Like I said, nothing, I was just thinking.”

“That’s bullshit and we both know it.” Lance was shocked by Keith’s abrasive wording and shrank back until he was sitting on the bench. Shrugging over and over again but not speaking any words. “Is it your uh… family and homesickness?” At that, Lance looked up and tilted his head.

“How’d you know about that?”

“Coran.”

“Of course.” Lance breathed like he had just been told he was grounded. “What else did he spill to you guys?”

“Not much, he told us how you love the rain and you pick your nose when you’re alone.” Keith shrugged in all seriousness, taking a seat beside Lance on the bench.

“W-wait what? He told you guys that!?” Lance sputtered, spinning around, drink falling from his grip as he moved to grab Keith’s shoulders and shake him. “He promised he wouldn’t! I told him—”

“Lance!” Keith snapped, cutting him off and shoving his hands off. “I was kidding, he only told us you get homesick sometimes and you talk about your family and the rain. He didn’t give away any of your… nasty little habits.”

They sit in silence for a solid minute before Lance starts to laugh. “I don’t pick my nose, I was kidding.”

“ _Right_ , and I don’t pilot better than you.” Keith teased but Lance’s laughter died down and he looked away. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” And suddenly the room felt tense and Keith was mentally kicking himself.

“It’s not like it’s not true,” Lance shrugged. “I like to say I’m better but you were always the best. Top of the fighter class and I was just top of the cargo class.” And then Keith sees him press his bottom lip between his teeth and start to chew on it.

“Lance don’t do that.” Said person looked up in confusion and Keith tapped his own lips. “Don’t chew on it, it’s gonna burn when you eat the goop Coran and Hunk make for us at every meal.”

“Oh.”

“So what exactly do you miss about home?”

“Everything.”

“That’s pretty general.”

“I like space but not this much. I want to go home most days.”

Keith looked at the blue paladin, pity clearly written across his face. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”

“It kind of is. If I hadn’t of taken you guys out to look for the blue lion we wouldn’t be here. You’d probably be back at the Garrison still and able to call home—call your family.”

“Keith. It’s _not_ your fault, just let it go, okay?” Lance didn't mean to snap at him so harshly but he was over the whole conversation. “It’s really… really not your fault.”

Neither boy says anything else for a while and Lance almost felt like he  was suffocating with the awkward filling the room. He wanted to apologize for snapping at him but he couldn't find the words to say anything else.

“What’s your family like?”

“Huh?”

“Your family. You miss them, they must be something great. What are they like?” Keith rephrased and Lance took a few minutes to respond.

“My mom and dad were—are the ultimate marriage goals. They never argue and they work like a well-oiled machine. I’ve always been closer to my mom though.” Lance started off. “I have two sisters and three brothers. The oldest is my sister Emilia, we call her Mila or Mili though and she has three kids. Twin boys and a baby girl.” A smile had slowly formed on his face as he spoke more and more. “I got to meet the twins but I haven’t met the baby girl. I know her name is Tania but she was born a few weeks before we found Shiro and disappeared into space. And well it’s been a year now since we’ve come to space so she’s probably almost two by now.” He shrugged, eyes focused on his shoes.

“You’ll meet her someday.” It’s a weak attempt at comfort on Keith’s behalf but it was the best he can muster.

“Yeah, she won’t recognize me or know me but I’ll meet her someday.” Lance agreed before continuing. “I have an older brother named Marcello but we all call him Milo because it sounds like Mila's name. He’s two years younger than my sister but he says he’s never having kids or getting married.” Lance laughed, shrugging. “Then it’s me and after me comes my brother Alberto and we call him Beto. He’s pretty annoying but I love him. He never knows when to shut up.”

“Gee, I wonder who that reminds me of.”

“Oh shut up,” they both laughed and Lance was actually smiling largely now. “After him is my sister Yahira and she goes by Yaha. Then last but not least is our baby brother Cristiano and we all call him Chicharo because his favorite snack is chicharones.” Lance explained despite the fact that Keith had no earthly idea what a chicharon even was.

“How come they all go by nicknames except you?”

“Oh, no I have one—kind of. It’s more of a name of affection. My mom calls me Lancito sometimes but only her.” He laughed, looking over at Keith. “They’re all really great. I used to talk to them every night before bed. Chicharo used to ask me when I’d come home again and I’d always say for the holidays but… well that didn’t work out.”

“It sounds like you guys were all really close. I’m sorry.”

“Dude, stop apologizing. It is _not_ your fault and I’ll get to go home someday, it’s not the end of the world. My parents will just ground me for like five years for getting into a giant space lion and disappearing for a long time. No big deal.” Lance stated jokingly. “What about you? What’s your family like?”

“Oh, no I don’t have any. I’m an orphan—well I mean I guess Shiro counts as a brother since I lived with him for a long time, but other than that it was just me.” Keith explained with a shrug and a look of horror quickly finds its way to Lance’s face.

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry.”

“Like you said, it’s not your fault, nothing can be done about it.” Keith deadpanned as if he had said it a million times before.

“Right.”

A few seconds of silence and then Lance is perking up. “Dude, we actually had like a full on conversation without jabbing insults at each other.” And Keith suddenly realized he was right.

“Well there was that comment about me being a better pilot.”

“Yeah but after that.” Lance said waving his hand at him. “Guess this marriage isn’t a ticking time bomb after all.” Lance laughed as Keith went wide eyed and then narrowed his eyes at him.

“We aren’t _actually_ married, you know.”

“Yeah but I can tease you about it since _technically_ we are on that one planet.” And they’re quickly arguing again like they normally would.

Soon after, the rest of the paladins and Allura join them in the training room. Walking in on Keith and Lance butting heads and arguing about who the better pilot was.

“Now that’s the Lance we all know and love.” Hunk announced, both boys stopping their argument and turning away from each other.

“Whatever.” The word is spoken almost simultaneously and they glance at each other over their shoulders and Lance sticks his tongue out right away.

“Dude! We had a bonding moment like five minutes ago!” Keith all but shouted and Lance shakes his head.

“Nope, no don’t—“

“I swear, if you say you don’t remember it I will personally kick you out of this ship.” Keith cut him off and they both fell silent, Shiro stepping between them.

“Alright, come on, that’s enough guys. We’ve got some training to do.”

And with that they start their training for the day, everybody noticing right away that Lance is once again in a good mood—or rather, back to his perky self. He’s constantly tossing jokes around and teasing Keith and edging him on as they train. And when they’re fighting the bots Lance shouts something that causes Keith to lose his focus.

“Babe, look out!”

Keith felt a shiver run up his spine and his sword was knocked from his grip before he was sent flying backwards. With a groan, he pushed himself up and ended up with enough time to throw his arms up to brace himself against the bot's staff as it came down towards him quickly. But the blow never came and when Keith looked up, Lance was standing there, holding not only his own bayard weapon but also Keith’s. The red sword being used to hold up the bot’s staff and his rifle was pointed at the bot’s abdomen then it went off and the bot was down.

“You okay?”

Nodding, Keith reached up for his weapon but didn't move to stand up. “Did you call me babe?”

“Oh—yeah? Was that weird?”

“A little bit.”

“Sorry.”

The rest of the training exercise went by in a blur. Keith keeping his distance from Lance until they finish level four and called it quits for that exercise.

“Allura and I agreed that a bit of hand to hand training would be good. We know that most of our fighting happens while in our lions but we can never be too prepared.” Shiro stated.

“Dibs on fighting against my husband.” Lance almost immediately shouted, everybody falling silent as they looked at him. “What? I can’t have fun with this fake marriage?”

“Keith are you okay with sparring with Lance for today?” Allura questioned and Keith just shrugged with a small nod.

“I don’t mind taking it easy.”

“Oh, he got you good Lance.” Hunk snorted, Pidge turning away to try and hide her laughter.

“On second thought, I kind of want a divorce.” Lance stated with a pout.

“But what about the kids?” Keith asked in all seriousness and even Shiro laughed at that.

“I… did not know Lance and Keith had kids?” Allura whispered to Shiro earning a louder laugh from him. “I don’t understand what's so funny?”

“They don’t have kids, they’re just kidding.” Shiro explained, his laughter dying down into just a smile. “Anyway though, Hunk and Pidge… um—actually I’ll spar with Hunk, Pidge you take Allura.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at the change of mind and crossed her arms. “Right. Is it because I’m a girl?”

“Or maybe he’s just afraid to fight against Allura. Remember that one time Allura tossed him across the room by his collar?” Lance piped in.

“I’m gonna go with what Lance said. First agreeable thing he’s ever said. Guys, Shiro is afraid of Allura.” Pidge announced, Shiro pinching the bridge of his nose but earning a smile from Allura..

“Alright, alright, let’s just get on with it.” He all but begged and the rest of them laughed as they split up into their assigned pairs.

Keith managed to knock Lance off his feet almost immediately. And several more times after that. Lance put up a fight but his stance was always sloppy and he forgot to block as much as he aimed. It was almost like he was in a schoolyard fight instead of a sparring match.

“Lance are you even trying?”

“Yes! I’ve just never like—you know, _trained_ before.” He snapped back, seemingly out of breath while Keith was barely breaking a sweat. “The only kind of fighting I’ve ever done was against my siblings, and not just my brothers. Girls hit hard as hell.”

“Gender literally has nothing to do with it Lance, even Pidge could kick your ass from what I can tell.” Keith said, smirk playing on his lips, hoping to get some kind of energy rush out of Lance from that jab.

“Yeah, probably.” He laughed with a shrug before swinging a fist at Keith only to have him dodge it and hit his side before sweeping his feet out from under him. With a thud, Lance hits the floor and he just lays there. “You know, I’ve been thinking. Since we’re married you really shouldn’t be knocking me off my feet like that, especially since I’m the bride. You only knock your bride off their feet in the bedroom.”

“L-Lance!” Keith complained at the joke, resisting the urge to bend down and smack him. “I thought we were letting it _go_ that we got married. Why do you keep joking about it?”

“I’unno. It’s funny and it makes you flustered.”

“It does not!”

“It so does, look, your face is as red as your lion.” Lance laughed, pushing himself up onto his elbows.

“No it’s not, you’re just pissing me off.” Keith was practically seething and Lance shrugged, sitting up with a laugh.

“I’ll keep it on the down low then.”

And Lance only partially kept to his word. During lunch he had leaned over to Keith and whispered in his ear. “I would eat this goop off your chest.” And everybody had quickly become concerned as to why and how Keith had choked on his food.

After Keith had successfully led Lance through the invisible maze Lance had been quick to ask if it was that easy to get to Keith’s heart. Keith had shut down the com link and promptly left the control room without another word.

And of course the one time Keith had actually sat in the lounge area to rest, Lance stood behind the couch and rubbed Keith’s shoulders. Not that he was complaining about the shoulder massage, but he _was_ complaining about the names Lance was calling him.

“Will you cut it out?” Keith finally shouted during dinner when Lance reached out to grab his hand. “We’re not married Lance, stop with the nicknames and the touching and everything. Got it?”

“Got it.” Lance nodded and nobody spoke a word for the rest of their meal. Hunk shooting Lance constant looks and Shiro looking between the blue and red paladins until Keith stood and bid his goodnight and started to head out. Lance had coughed awkwardly and left just minutes after Keith and nobody followed after them.

Lance caught up to Keith and walked with him towards their rooms. Turning down one hall, Lance cleared his throat but Keith kept walking and Lance felt a bit guilty but pushed it aside and grabbed for Keith’s sleeve to get his attention.

“What?” the word was spoken harshly and accompanied with a yank of his arm from Keith as he pulled away from Lance’s grip.

“I had a serious question for you.” And Keith raised an eyebrow but came to a stop to turn and look at Lance. “I was wondering… like in all honesty, completely serious…I was wondering what it’s like being married to the greatest person in the galaxy?” you could practically _see_ the smug in Lance’s words and it only served to boil Keith’s blood as he clenched his fists.

And the next few seconds were a major blur for Lance. One second he was standing beside Keith and the next he was being slammed against the wall, stars dancing across his vision as his head bounced off the wall. Keith’s fists were balled up against his collarbones and holding his shirt tightly as they held him in place against the wall. And despite their very small height difference, Lance was suddenly looking down at Keith and had possibly never felt more terrified of him than then and there.

“Listen to what I’m about to tell you, Lance.” His words were dripping with venom and Lance could only nod. “We are _not_ married and we will _never_ be married! You got it? I’m done and sick of your jokes. They were endearing at first but you pushed it too far Lance. You never know when to stop and I’m done with it, got it?”

“Y-yeah, I just—”

“No. You just _nothing_. Lance, enough with the stupid jokes, just let it go.”

“Dude, it’s just that, stupid jokes, no harm is meant by them.” Lance argued back, his fear subsiding as anger found its way to the surface. “Why don’t _you_ stop taking everything so seriously? Whatever crawled up your butt and died, you should probably get it out.”

“Why are you so immature? I thought we could actually get along after this morning and here you are acting like a five-year-old again.”

“Yeah? Well maybe I like acting like a five-year-old but at least I don’t act like a senior citizen.” Lance shot back, hands moving up to press against Keith’s shoulder and shove him backwards. Keith lost his grip and stumbled back, giving Lance one last look of hate.

“I’m done Lance. _Done_.” And he turned, storming away.

Lance was left in the hall alone, wondering what _done_ meant. He knew they weren’t in a relationship, he knew. But did Keith mean he was done with their friendship? That sick feeling of guilt suddenly found its home in Lance’s chest again and it had brought its good old friend, regret as well.

_Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire._

The house—or rather, the ship—was definitely _not_ on fire and they had just basically torn each other down. Lance quickly realized he had fucked up big time and Keith would need some space… well as much space as he could get in space.

And Lance decided he wouldn’t talk to Keith anymore unless absolutely necessary. There was no way for them to yell at each other if they weren’t even talking. Then there was no way to break the rules of marriage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cool, so how was that? This chapter got way longer than it was meant to be but it's not really THAT long either. 4534 words so it could've been longer honestly. I also listed all of Lance's siblings in this and if you guys really want a spoiler it's at the end of these notes.  
> Also! Okay, so this whole story is a bit of a time jump. They've been in space for just over a year so it's a few months after s1 in case that wasn't clear. And Lance's niece was born while he was at the Garrison during that last year before they found Shiro. So they baby should be over 1 now, almost 2 probably.  
> And that little story with Lance's mom pulling the on fire stove out into their backyard is actually based on my own mom. Haha she did that once. We were all cleaning the house and my mom had turned on the self-cleaning feature on our stove and next thing we know there's a huge fire inside the oven and my moms first instinct was to pull it out into our backyard instead of turning it off and using the fire extinguisher.  
> Also, I'm Hispanic so some of Lance's siblings are named after my cousins and such because they're common names where I'm from. I feel like I had something else to say but I can't remember so whoops.
> 
> Anyway though, thank you everybody for all the comments, kudos, bookmarks, everything. You guys are great and I absolutely love this fandom, this ship and writing this fic.
> 
> One last thing! I don't have a beta reader so I'm sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes you might come across. Feel free to point them out and I'll fix them!


	4. Rule #4

_Never go to bed angry at each other_

 

* * *

 

 

It truly amazed Lance how quickly three whole days could go by. Unfortunately, though, that wasn’t the case for him and his last three days. In fact, it’d been the exact opposite of quick. They’d gone by slower than any other time he could remember. He was almost positive they had gone through some sort of time slow down worm hole or… or _something_ because there was no reason that each day should’ve felt like a week on its own.

The first day was the easiest. He distracted himself with Hunk and Pidge and then a jog around the castle, exploring room after room. He’d gone to the observatory deck for a few hours as well, looking at the stars in the distance as they went by. Coran had found him after a while and the two talked about Altea and Earth like they did often.

That night he got Hunk, Pidge and Coran to play hide and seek with him. Allura joined in at some point and before their ninth round Shiro and Keith ended up on the same floor as them.

“What’s… everybody doing?” Shiro questioned, eyes drifting from a giggling Allura to a smirking Lance.

“Just playing games.” Lance shrugged, avoiding looking in Keith’s general direction.

“Hide and seek to be specific.” Hunk piped in and an exaggerated sigh from Keith could be heard.

“Do you guys want to join in?”

“Uh—I wouldn’t mind. Keith, what about you?” Shiro asked, glancing to the red paladin who stood silent. The other’s watched as he shrugged, arms dropping to his side.

“Sure why not?”

“I actually have to go.” Lance announced, all eyes falling to him. “I’m… um tired. You guys have fun though.” And without another word he bolted from the hall.

“I don’t understand… Lance was fine and happy just moment ago, what happened?” Allura questioned, frown forming on her lips.

Keith wanted to speak up and say he’d go after Lance but something held him in place. The slight feeling of guilt rising in his stomach. It wasn’t _his_ fault; he’d just set Lance straight. Maybe he’d been a bit harsh but the other had deserved it, pushing him and his buttons like that… right?

And so nobody went after Lance and that next game of hide and seek never happened either.

The second day was strange. Lance kept to himself from absolutely everybody. He missed breakfast, he showed up for training but was as quiet as the mice that everybody almost forgot he was there. Afterwards he’d gone to grab food and hid in his room until dinner, which he missed in favor of wandering around the halls. Hours after everybody else had gone to bed, Lance found himself staring at the stars.

He sat cross legged on the floor, blanket wrapped around his shoulders and tugging at the hem of his pajama shirt. He sat in silence, looking at the stars, wondering if any were similar to Earth.

“Lance?”

Jumping at the voice, Lance spun around to see Allura standing in the doorway. “Uh, hey, hey Princess what’s going on? Fancy seeing you here.” He laughed, hand rubbing at his neck nervously.

“Hm. Don’t start with that Lance.”

“Right.” He laughed, hand dropping and smile flickering. “Why are you up?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Why are you up?”

“Same.” Lance sighed, shifting to turn back to the stars. “I like to come up here because of the stars. They remind me of my room.”

“Your room?”

“Yeah, I had these green glow in the dark stars in my room and they helped me sleep.” Lance explained, tilting his head to look at Allura as she made her way to sit beside him.

They sat in silence for a minute before Allura spoke. “How many did you have?”

“Stars? A lot. They were all over my ceiling and walls. Every time I got a new poster I’d put stars on it.”

“Would you like some for your room here?” Allura questioned, turning to look at him. Lance perked up at the question but gave her a confused look before nodding slowly. “Then, let’s go get you some stars. They won’t be green, but they will glow.”

“That’s fine. I don’t mind.”

And then Allura was standing, hand stretched out to Lance. Taking her hand, he climbed to his feet and the two set off down the hall. They walked in silence for several minutes, heading down a few sets of stairs and then coming up to a large room.

Allura pushed the door open and a smile almost instantly formed on her face. “This used to be my mother’s favorite room. She’d come here to express herself, to create art and be free.” She explained, walking about and looking through shelves and cases for something.

Lance moved up and down the room, looking at the paintings, some glowing and some shimmering. There was one that he could almost swear looked like it was moving. “Ah, here it is,” Allura chirped, Lance glancing over his shoulder at her. She was holding a jar that was glowing a bright white, almost like a light bulb.

“What is it?”

“Glow paint. This doesn’t require light to glow, which makes it even better.” She explained, holding the jar out to him. Immediately, the color shifted to a light blue and his lips formed a small _o_ as he watched the color change, Allura’s face lighting up. “It reflects your mood, blue means you’re depressed but a light blue means you’re upset and I believe homesickness would fall under upset.” She explained, turning to grab some brushes off the shelf. “Come on, let’s go paint your stars.”

“Wait, we’re… uh hand painting them?”

“Why not? Then each star has a unique shape, each star is different, just like the real ones.” She stated with confidence, shifting the brushes from her right hand to her left and reaching out to take Lance’s in her own. “Come on, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can go to bed.”

Lance felt like he was five again, walking down the hall hand in hand with Allura. It reminded him of when his sister Lia and brother Milo had helped him with the stars in his room. Lia had held his hand as they headed up to his room, star packets held in Lance’s free tiny, chubby hand. Milo had walked behind them with the stepping stool and they had spent the afternoon covering his walls and ceiling in the glowing green stars.

“Lance?”

“Huh?”

“I said we’re here.” Allured giggled, letting her hand slip from his and swiping for the door to open. They both shuffled in, the now open jar being set on the floor. Allura handed him a brush and immediately set to work, dipping the brush and moving to the nearest wall. Her star had eight points and Lance couldn’t help but chuckle at it. The color of the star quickly changing to a faint pink and Lance stared in awe. “Well? Are you going to help or just stand there and watch me do all the work?”

“Right!” and with that, he dipped his brush into the glowing paint and began decorating the walls with stars. Not just regular five pointed stars but also six, seven, eight and nine pointed stars. Allura quickly picked up on what he was doing and soon the walls were covered with stars of different points, sizes and shapes. Allura was the one to start with the ceiling, growing a bit in height to reach easier while Lance jumped onto the bed to reach a small area.

Lance loved this. It almost felt like they were back on Earth instead of in the middle of space. And that small crush he’d once held for Allura? It seemed to vanish with each star as he started to view her as a sister. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, maybe he would one day, but for now, thinking of her as his sister felt like something special, a secret he should keep for as long as he could.

After what felt like hours, the ceiling and walls were covered and Lance felt butterflies in his stomach at the sight. It was the most at home he’d felt in a long time. The jar had a bit of paint left and before Allura could cap it and take it with her, Lance was bending down to grab it. “Do you mind if I keep the rest of the paint?”

“Not at all.” She smiled, scratching at her cheek, brush dragging across her forehead, leaving a trail of paint across it. Sighing, she rubbed at the paint on her face only smudging it further and causing Lance to burst into a fit of laughter as the now bright pink paint covered her forehead.

“At least it matches you.” He commented, grabbing his towel off its hook and stepping up to her, offering the towel to her.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just take a quick shower in my bathroom. I can’t remember if this stuff stains skin though…” she whispered more to herself than Lance. “Anyway, did this help any?”

“More than you can imagine.” Lance nodded, tossing the towel to his bed and taking in a sharp breath at the realization that he’d left his blanket on the observation deck. “Uh… I’ll walk with you, I left my blanket… upstairs.” He laughed, Allura chuckling as they both left his room.

“Oh, Keith?” Allura questioned, both Lance and her coming to a stop at the sight of the red paladin standing in the hall just across from them. He looked… confused at the sight of the two of them leaving Lance’s room.

“What… are you guys up to?” he questioned, eyes drifting between the two as they looked at each other and shrugged at the question.

“We were painting Lance’s room.” Allura answered and Keith gave a small nod. “I really should be heading back to my own room now, goodnight Lance, goodnight Keith.” She spoke softly, giving Lance’s shoulder a small pat before heading down the hall.

Lance wanted to say something, wanted to apologize but instead he stood frozen in front of his door. Keith doing very much the same in front of his own door, the air between them falling somewhere between tense and awkward.

“What… were you guys painting?”

“Stars.”

“Stars?”

“Yeah.” Lance nodded, stepping back, his door sliding open. “I should… head to bed.” He whispered, stepping inside, whispering a barely audible goodnight as his door shut.

That night he slept without a blanket but with stars filling his last thought before he drifted to sleep.

The third day was the longest day. After having finally spoken a few words to Keith the night prior, he felt like the hours dragged by as he trained with the others. Meals seemed to go on _forever_ as he sat beside Keith and everybody shot them concerned looks every now and then. The only thing that kept him smiling throughout the day was the faint glow to Allura’s forehead. The color didn’t change but the faint glow was noticeable if you looked hard enough. It hadn’t stained as bad as he’d thought it could but it still made him smile at the memory of their night painting stars.

After dinner, Lance couldn’t wait to get to his room but it seemed like the universe had other plans as a hand clasped around his wrist and pulled him to a stop, spinning him to face the person who had stopped him. Keith. Lance had a few inches on Keith but with the bit of stumbling Lance had done, they were eye to eye and Keith did not… look happy.

“What’s your problem?”

“What?” Lance asked in confusion, Keith letting his hand go in favor of crossing his arms over his chest.

“Your problem, Lance, what is it? Why did you start avoiding me, huh?”

“You… basically said that was what you wanted. I was respecting that.” Lance answered as if it were obvious. Hands clasping together in front of him and fingers fidgeting with each other. “You were pretty pissed so I thought I’d give you some space.”

“Lance… I didn’t mean for you to completely avoid me, that’s stupid. I just wanted the marriage jokes to end.” Keith sighed, hand moving up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “You’re something else, you know that?”

“My mom says I’m special.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely.” Keith scoffed with a laugh, lopsided smile on his face as he peeked up at the other.

“I feel like that was meant as an insult but I’m gonna take it as you calling me special.” Lance grinned and Keith rolled his eyes.

“Look, if it makes you happy you can joke about… our marriage every once in a while, okay? Just don’t take it too far like you always do.” And at this Lance quickly perked up, smile lighting up his face as he nodded eagerly.

“Am I allowed to use nicknames and stuff?”

“What kind did you have in mind?”

“Stuff like honey, darling, dear beloved, Keithy—”

“Lance. No.” he replies with narrowed eyes and Lance almost swears there’s a small blush on Keith’s cheeks. “I might be okay with a few but not all of those.” They stood in silence for a minute before Lance threw an arm over Keith’s shoulders and started walking them down the hall towards their rooms.

“Alright, I’ll list off a few and you say yes or no to it, okay?” Lance offered.

“I’m gonna limit you to only five, so pick wisely.” Keith warned and Lance nodded as they walked down the hall.

“Beloved?”

“Sure.”

“Keith-boo?”

“What the hell Lance? No, that sounds weird.”

“Sugar?”

“What am I, a recipe?” both laughing at Keith’s response.

“Darling?”

“ _Ugh_ , I guess?”

“Raven!”

“What?”

“Nevermind.” Lance laughed, silence falling as he thought up more, quickly realizing it was harder than he’d been expecting to find suitable nicknames for Keith. “Sweetums?”

“Gross.”

“Love bug?”

“Really?”

“I’m so serious right now.”

“ _Suuure._ ”

“So, what is that so far? Three? Beloved, darling and love bug? I see you have a thing for sappy names.” Lance teased, Keith grumbling something under his breath. “Cariño?”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s Spanish. The literal translation for it is affection but it would be translated as love in English. Like, you know, the way the British people are always like _hey love,_ ” Lance explains and Keith doesn’t respond right away. “If it’s weird it’s fine, I’ll just—”

“It’s fine. I like it.” Lance is shocked at the response but a smile quickly splits across his face as he notes that. “That’s four, you have one left, pick wisely McClain.” Keith answers, glancing up to Lance, a twinkle of… _something_ in his eyes and Lance feels his heart skip a beat. Had Keith’s eyes always been that pretty?

“I have one in mind, but can you let me have this one? No matter what, you say yes?”

“What if it’s something ridiculous?”

“It won’t be, trust me. It’ll be cute just like the others.” Lance practically begged, pout forming on his face. Groaning, Keith nodded in agreement and his response was worth the reaction Lance gave. A small huff of cheer under his breath and a squeeze to his shoulder. Again, they walked in silence before Keith shot Lance a confused look. “So are you going to tell me what it is or what?”

“I will, in a minute. Just be patient darling.” Lance chuckled, Keith coughing at the casual way Lance used the word _darling_ with him. Once the rooms were in sight, Keith noticed they weren’t walking straight down the hall anymore, the wall was getting closer and his heartbeat was picking up. What did Lance have in mind.

Stopping just outside of Keith’s room, Lance gentle pushed him against the wall and Keith’s eyes widened, breath catching in his throat. “Lance, what are you...?” his mouth went dry as Lance leaned in and he could’ve sworn they were about to kiss but Lance’s head tilted to the side and their cheeks were pressed together as Lance whispered something in his ear.

“Darling, love bug, cariño, beloved. That’s all I’m allowed, right?”

“A-and one more… yeah.”

“Alright angel eyes, get some sleep, I heard from Coran that Allura has another early morning drill planned for tomorrow.” The way _angel eyes_ drifted off of Lance’s lips sent a shiver up Keith’s spine and he had no words, especially after Lance pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and stepped back from him. Spinning on his heels with a laugh as he headed into his own room, Keith being left standing on weak legs at the sudden turn of… _everything_.

“What the hell just… happened?”

Inside of Lance’s room, he stumbled once the door shut and nearly missed landing on his bed. His heart was pounding in his ear, hands shaking just a bit as he lay face down on his bed. Groaning, he rolled over onto his back and stared up at the stars above him. Two things clear as day to him now.

One… he had just _flirted_ with Keith. Hardcore flirted with Keith. He wasn’t sure where that had come from but he was hoping Keith would attribute their whole conversation to Lance’s dedication to this fake marriage.

Two… he had followed another rule of marriage. Never go to bed angry at each other. They might not have _technically_ been angry with each other but not talking sure qualified as breaking that rule. And they had fixed that today, even if it had made things a bit strange, at least they were talking again.

And Lance drifted to sleep more comfortable than he had the past few nights. He felt like he was back home with the stars in his room and the thought of being able to talk to Keith again made his stomach feel warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! So how was that? I love getting feedback. Also, I'm really sorry about the long wait!! I was visiting a friend in Alabama when I first posted this story and the first 3 chapters then I had to take a bus back to Los Angeles and I was so exhausted and stuff got busy and all that so this got pushed back. Anyway though, I'm back and hopefully able to update more regularly after this! Most likely Tuesday or Thursdays.
> 
> So, as you can see they're starting to like... _feel_ things for each other. They're adorable dorks and angel eyes is one of my favorite pet names ever, so of course I had to use it for my favorite ship ever. And!! Okay if you guys have any questions or wanna chat or have fanart or anything feel free to hmu on my tumblr! It's [bluemcclain](http://bluemcclain.tumblr.com) okay. So....I think that's about all I have to say for now? Hope everybody has a great few days! (Until my next update) Thank you for reading <3


	5. Rule #5

_When you’ve done something wrong, admit it and beg forgiveness._

 

* * *

 

 

Keith felt like he hadn’t exactly slept all night. The kiss to his cheek had replayed over and over in his mind and it felt like Keith had been in bed for hardly a minute when it was time to get up and going. Keith blamed his lack of sleep on the so called early morning drill he was anticipating. Only, it never came. Finally getting up, Keith realized he was running later than usual and some part of Keith hoped he would walk out at the same time as Lance and they’d head to breakfast together. But of course, that didn’t happen and Keith made his way alone.

Mumbled greetings filled the room as Keith sat down and seconds later a hand was ruffling his hair and a soft “Good morning babe,” reached his ears. Tensing up, Keith resisted the urge to look at Lance or acknowledge his comment but he _was_ fully aware of the way the others were looking at them.

All of breakfast was filled with small comments from Lance and every other one ended with one of the nicknames Keith had approved, all except _angel eyes_ were used. Keith wouldn’t openly admit it but every time Lance spoke a nickname to him he got a tingling feeling running up his arms.

“Hey Keith, do you have plans for after breakfast?” Lance questioned, setting his spork down to look at him.

“What? Uh—training? I guess. Why?”

“Wanted to see if you wanted to hang out, relax in the lounge area and what not.” Lance shrugged, returning to his meal.

“Oh. Uh, why don’t you just go train with me? You could use some extra training.” Keith smirked, stuffing his mouth as Lance gaped at him.

“First off, that was rude. Second off, it’s like the only day Allura and Shiro aren’t making us train hardcore and you’re about to spend it training?” Keith raised an eyebrow in response to Lance’s question.

“Your point is…?”

“That you’re lame. But I’ll join you in the training room.” Lance huffed, and true to his word he sat on one of the benches while Keith fought a bot later that morning.

“You tired yet, darling?” Lance called out, turning in his seat and laying down, hands falling to rest behind his head.

“Nope.”

“Well can you _get_ tired so we can go do something fun?” Lance whined, tapping his feet against the bench impatiently.

“Last fight.” Keith announced, dodging the bots sword. Swinging his sword forward, he knocked the blue weapon from the robot’s hand then with one kick sent it flying against the wall.

“Cool, alright let’s go, lounge area.” Lance chirped, coming up to Keith’s side in seconds and grabbing his wrist, dragging him into the hall before Keith could complain. Lance was a few steps ahead of Keith but his hand remained tightly wrapped around the shorter boy’s wrist. Glancing down at the hand contact, Keith became aware of how sweaty his palms felt and how heavy his bayard suddenly felt in his other hand.

He didn’t like Lance _that way,_ he definitely didn’t, he just wasn’t used to this kind of affection and physical contact. It was becoming overwhelming, suddenly having Lance touching his hair, his hands, shoulders, arms, kissing his face, calling him pet names, it all felt like too much sometimes. But Keith didn’t want it to stop, he hadn’t had this much affection growing up and the lack of it made him crave it more and more now that he was suddenly getting it. However, it _did_ leave him flustered sometimes— _most_ of the time.

“Babe,” suddenly crashing into Lance, Keith jumped back, looking around and realizing they’d gotten to the lounge area already. “You okay?”

“You know; babe wasn’t on that approved pet name list.”

“Pet name?” Lance smirked, arms crossing over his chest and hip jutting out. “I thought they were just nick names, names of affection, not _pet names_.”

“Oh shut up, it’s all the same thing.” Keith snapped, walking past Lance and plopping down on one of the sofas. Lance was taking a seat beside him soon, resting his back against the arm rest and looking at Keith.

“Tell me something.”

“Like what?” Keith asked, shooting Lance a confused look.

“How do you know Shiro?”

“His family took me in when I was younger. He’s like a brother to me.” Keith shrugged as if that was more than enough of an answer for Lance.

“And? That’s all I get? What was Shiro like as a brother? What were you like as a kid?” Lance urged on, Keith shrugging a few times before sliding down a bit into the sofa.

“I was seven when they took me in and I think Shiro hated me at first. He says he didn’t but when I first got there Shiro stared at me from the kitchen for like five minutes before going to talk to me. Most of the time he messed with me. I was nine when I got my first pair of gloves and Shiro totally made fun of me for it for a week.” Keith laughed, ghost of a smile gracing his lips.

“I don’t blame him, I would’ve too. I can’t believe you’ve had this emo bike riding theme going since you were nine.” Lance scuffed teasingly. “So what else happened? Is he the reason you went to Garrison?”

“Kind of.” Keith nodded, suddenly his expression falling. “I was ten when it happened. Shiro says I shouldn’t blame myself but I… I ruined our family. Dad died and mom was on life support for two years before Shiro told them to let her go.” And suddenly Lance doesn’t know what to say or do. “I joined this space club when I was ten, mom and dad always took me, they’d go out for ice cream while I was at the club then pick me up and we’d go eat somewhere. That day was different though, the car driving next to us, their tire blew out and the front of their car slammed into dad’s door and basically killed him on impact. Our car spun and slammed into the road blocks and mom was hurt pretty bad, I was sitting in the middle though and hardly got hurt.”

There’s a few seconds of silence before Keith continued after realizing Lance wasn’t going to say anything. “Shiro was given custody of me and I finished elementary school before we let mom go. When she… passed, I told Shiro I wanted to join the Garrison and I started in their middle school program. Shiro and I got a little apartment near the school and the Garrison paid for our housing because of our grades and all that. Everything was fine from there until I was fourteen and Shiro was invited to join the Kerberos mission. They said I’d be going into the full Garrison program soon anyway, Shiro didn’t have to look after me since I’d be living at the school. And Shiro accepted even though…”

“Even though what?” Lance finally asked after several moments of Keith not talking.

“Even though when I was nine Shiro promised he wouldn’t go to space without me. It was years ago and he’d probably forgotten, plus something as big at the Kerberos mission? I wouldn’t have let him turn it down either way.” Keith answered. “I liked the Garrison but when Shiro and the others went missing I… had problems in class and with the instructors. I left during our second year, first week and since I didn’t have the apartment Shiro and I originally had anymore I went out to the desert. I found that little shack and dealt with it while looking for Shiro, for clues or anything to find him.”

“I think I know the rest of the story from there.” Lance whispered and Keith simply nodded. “When I asked about your family I didn’t… I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know.”

“You lost two different families, Keith I’m sorry.”

“Lance, like I said, you didn’t know. It’s fine. I still have Shiro and I have y—it’s fine.” Keith whispered.

“Keith, Lance?” both boys jumped at the sudden call of their names. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you guys,” Shiro laughed from the doorway. “Allura was about to announce a meeting here but looks like you guys beat us here.”

“Yeah, we were just talking.” Lance said, sitting up straight in his seat as Allura suddenly came over the intercom. She told them all to meet in the lounge area for a briefing. “On what?”

“A planet we’re stopping at. No sign of Galra on it and we need to pick up some supplies. Allura is planning to strike up an alliance while we’re there too.” Shiro explained, sitting down on the sofa across from them.

Moments later, the others joined them and the briefing began. It was a planet of mixed species, some of which had traded with Alteans long ago, as far as Coran and Allura could remember at least. Keith was honestly enjoying the briefing, learning about the different species they would encounter, how many were actually runaways from other planets. It was a pit stop for travelers too which made it the prime location to stop and get supplies. Of course, the original species of the planet still dominated and ruled which was who they planned to plan an alliance with.

While learning about one alien race that looked oddly like lizards, Keith suddenly became hyper-aware of Lance scooting closer to him, their legs suddenly pressing together and… and then Lance’s head was leaning against his right shoulder and Keith became tense. Everything Shiro said next went in one ear and out the other. After several minutes of sitting rigidly, Keith leaned back into the sofa slowly and let his shoulders untense. The weight of Lance’s head against his shoulder becoming comfortable and Keith wanted to smile.

He liked being able to sit calmly with Lance like this, he liked being able to act civil, act like friends—no—he liked _being_ friends with Lance. Tuning back into what Shiro was explaining, he quickly picked up on that only Allura and Shiro would be talking to the leader of the planet while the others went and collected things they would need.

Suddenly there was an elbow pressing against his side then Lance was shifting his weight and Keith yelped as Lance’s elbow dug into his side. “Sorry!” Lance yelped, pulling away and smiling nervously at the others as they paused to look at the two. “Sorry, I was trying to move around,” he laughed, shifting awkwardly and resting his head against Keith once again.

“Right,” Shiro muttered, turning back to the hologram projecting from a device Allura had brought with her to the meeting.

Then, Lance’s hand was resting on his upper arm, gliding down slowly and sliding into Keith’s hand, their fingers interlacing and Keith’s mouth felt dry. He was glad for the gloves or else Lance would’ve noticed how sweaty his hands had become all of a sudden. Lance’s other hand had moved up to stroke Keith’s knuckles and suddenly Keith was shaking a bit. His heart racing and he was sure he was breathing harshly.

“Lance.” There’s no reaction from said person and Keith doubts he even spoke out loud. “Lance!” and then _everybody_ is looking at him.

“Keith, are you alright?” Allura was the one speaking but Keith wasn’t sure. He hadn’t seen her lips move, hadn’t even seen when Shiro suddenly moved to his side. And he certainly couldn’t hear what Shiro was saying to him.

“Keith.” That was Lance. Definitely Lance because suddenly they were face to face and Lance looked terrified. “Angel eyes, hey, are you okay?” and it's that _damn_ name that made his heart skip a beat, the one he liked best. The one that made Keith realize _none_ of it was real.

“Get off!” he snapped, shoving Lance out of his face and jumping to his feet. “I’m done, I’m so done! I thought I’d be okay with the stupid teasing if you kept it under control Lance but—but the hand touching and the head resting on my shoulder and— _and I’m not okay with it!”_ Keith screamed, his hands trembling as he stared down at Lance who was sitting on the table top. “I’m not.” He repeated quieter before leaving the room in a huff, leaving everybody in a confused daze.

“What just… what the heck just happened?!” Lance cried out, jumping to his feet and looking at everybody.

“You quiznaked up bad.” Pidge stated with a shrug, Coran audibly gasping at the use of quiznak.

“Are you sure you’re using that right?” Hunk asked with a snort.

“Better than shut your quiznak I think.” She shrugged, smirking at Lance, Allura and Coran cringing as the word was yet again repeated.

“I swear all you people have a knack for cracking jokes at the wrong time.” Lance sneered, arms crossing over his chest and eyes narrowing at the shortest paladin.

“Oh like you have any room to talk,” she shot back, Lance’s eyes widening and hands flying to his hips as he leaned forward to be eye level with Pidge.

“I’ve got all the room I want since you hardly take any up, short cakes!”

“Don’t make me get my _cute little bayard_ out again!” Pidge growled, Shiro stepping forward and spinning Lance away from Pidge before he could say anything back.

“What did you do to set him off?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Uh well I mean he did say something about you teasing him and all that.” Hunk pointed out meekly, hands fidgeting together and eyes avoiding any and all contact with Lance and Shiro.

Shrugging awkwardly, Lance looked at his feet and shrugged again. “All I did was hold his hand and rest my head on his shoulder.”

“Maybe he, oh I don’t know, likes personal space? Ever thought of that?” Pidge hummed, eyebrow raising in accusation at Lance.

“I don’t need your sass right now Pidge.”

“I’m not sassing you, I’m being honest. Keith doesn’t talk much, he’s not social and you probably pushed some boundaries by forcing yourself into his personal space like that.” Pidge stated, or voice drenched in seriousness.

“Pidge has a point. I grew up with Keith, he was never much of a hugger, hand holder or anything. He probably didn’t like the hand holding all too much.” Shiro agreed and Lance could feel his face heating up at being put on the spot.

“I… I mean I guess.” Lance shrugged, his hand moving to rub his arm nervously. “I should go apologize.” the others nod and Lance quickly left the room running down the halls until he caught up to Keith just outside of his room. “Keith!”

“What?” he snapped, standing in his doorway, the look on his face convincing Lance he had half a mind to just walk in and let the door shut in Lance's face.

“What happened? Was it my fault? I don't... I don't know what happened.” Lance questioned, hands fidgeting nervously in front of him and his eyes looking everywhere except the boy he was talking to.

Keith is silent as he stares at Lance for what feels like an eternity. Swallowing and shifting his weight from one foot to the other he lets out a forced laugh. “Are you kidding me?” it's a rhetorical question, Lance can tell that much but he still shakes his head in response. “The teasing Lance, it's too much, you're doing it on purpose!”

“You said you were fine with it!” Lance snapped back, hands flying up above his head in frustration. “I swear I don't understand you! One minute you hate it then the next you're okay with it then suddenly it pisses you off!”

“It's not the teasing, it's the touchy feely stuff, the attention, the kind of attention you're giving me!” Keith replied and he's pretty sure they're both screaming.

“Dude most of the stuff I did I do with my friends anyway! Ask Hunk, I used to basically fall asleep against him during movie nights. I'm a touchy person, I'm sorry, okay?” they're both silent for a moment then Keith let's out a frustrated scream and Lance is left wide eyed.

“You're dense as hell, McClain! It's not fair, I hate it, all of it.”

“What's your problem?!”

“I'm gay! Okay, it's not fair! You're doing it on purpose, you're messing with me, you're—you're basically confusing me, alright? It's just not fair.” Keith scuffs. Taking a few deep breathes and stepping back into his room. “Just leave it at that.” and then the door is shut and Lance is left standing in the hall.

_When you’ve done something wrong, admit it and beg forgiveness._

Boy had Lance really done something wrong now. He just... needed to swallow his pride and apologize to Keith.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way longer than it should have!! I got distracted with working on cosplay for Lance. I've been hand sewing his jacket and I'm still not done. I also got distracted when hurricane Matt was happening because my family had to evacuate for it and I'm all the way out in California so I had to constantly call to get updates and all that.
> 
> But yeah, okay hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!


	6. Rule # 6

_Always listen to each other and talk things out and always come to an agreement or a compromise at the very least._

 

* * *

 

 

There's a few minutes of silence while Lance contemplates whether to knock and talk this out with Keith now or give him some time and space. Lance wants to take the easy way out and just leave but he knows that's the _opposite_ of what he should be doing. At least, according to all of his parents rules. He had a few things he needed to do and do them fast.

Apologize.

Talk.

Agree.

And compromise.

Or at the very least figure out what he'd done wrong and do something about it to make Keith... not so upset. So, licking his lips, sighing and balling his hand into a fist, he quickly knocked three times on the door and waited.

 _Nothing_.

Again, he knocks three more times. “Keith? Dude, I know you're in there, I literally just watched you walk in.” he calls out, waiting for a response but getting nothing. Already he wants to give up and go to his own room but he can practically hear his parents scolding him for even thinking that.

_Always listen to each other and talk things out and always come to an agreement or a compromise at the very least._

Groaning, he knocks louder this time and smacks his forehead against the door. “Keith. Please? We need to talk face-to-face. I promise my teasing had nothing to do with you being gay. I swear.” he doesn't mean for his tone to sound so desperate and begging but if it makes the other open the door then so be it.

It feels like hours that Lance is standing in the hall, basically talking to himself, defending his actions, giving reasons, excuses. He feels his stomach twist every time he gives an excuse, almost like he's apologizing with a _but it's also not my fault_. It's been maybe a half hour when Lance knocks for the _millionth time_ and whispers a few words to the door. “I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry.”

He's about to turn away but instead he stumbles when the door slides open and his arm hits the wall. The hall spins as he's suddenly turning and then being pulled into Keith's room. He hears the door slide shut and then he blinks once, twice then he's face-to-face with Keith.

“Keith!”

“Yeah.”

“Look, I really am sorry. I had no idea, I didn't know it made you uncomfortable and I definitely wasn't doing it to make fun of you or anything!” Lance quickly rushes the words out, taking in a deep breath of air. “I'm not judging you, I'm really not. I'm not like, you know straight myself either. I'm bi.”

They stand in silence for a few minutes and finally, Keith slowly nods at Lance. “I know. Everybody knows you are. But I wasn't uncomfortable with the teasing because I like _guys_.”

Confusion is clearly written across Lance's face at that. “Wait, what? Everybody—nevermind, so then _why_ did it make you upset?”

“You're pretty dense, you know that?”

“Yeah, but I'm trying to understand! I'm communicating and you can't even spell it out for me?” Lance huffs, arms crossing over his chest and bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Keith shrugs several times before dropping to sit on the edge of his bed. “The whole marriage thing is stupid really. Kind of ironic and a miserable thing. It's like whatever all mighty being there is out there is tossing salt on the wound he already made.”

“ _What are you talking about?”_ Lance snaps, hands flying up to clutch his hair in exasperation.

Keith blinks a few times then a hand covers his mouth as he tries his best to silence his laughter. “This is exactly what I mean. You can't pick up on hints sometimes—well, most of the time. Pidge being exhibit A.”

“Is everybody gonna just drag that out for the rest of my life? It was an honest mistake, you know Allura didn't even figure it out herself! The mice had to tell her so if anything, my not realizing Pidge was a girl isn't just a _Lance_ thing, Allura didn't realize it either.” realizing he's gone way off topic, Lance zips his mouth and drops to sit beside Keith on the bed. “But come on, seriously, explain this whole thing to me.”

“What is there to explain?”

“Why is the marriage thing stupid and like some big insult to you? Is it really that bad to be associated with me?” Lance asks with honest curiosity in his tone.

Shaking his head and waving his hands in front of him, Keith glances at Lance and thinks over how best to word this. “No, no nothing like that. I wouldn't say it's awful being married to you, just...”

“Listen, this marriage means nothing on earth, you know that, I know that, everybody else here knows that. The marriage is just a thing on that one planet, if you're worried about like getting married in the future or something like that then don't. Because this won't carry over to earth you know.”

And Lance jumps back a bit when Keith jumps to his feet, loud groan emitting from his lips and hands flying out in front of him. “That's exactly my point Lance! It means _nothing_ and sometimes I don't want to accept that!” Keith's back is to Lance and he's thankful for that. Glad that Keith can't see the way his cheeks flare up in a deep blush at the words.

“I—I'm getting mixed signals from you.” Lance mumbles, hands gripping his thighs and sliding up and down nervously.

Scuffing, Keith nods. “Of course.”

“Why don't you want to accept it means nothing? It's not... it's not like we like each other!” pausing, Lance thinks over the wording and quickly corrects himself. “Alright, we like each other but as friends, right?”

Turning slowly, Keith's arms drop to his side and they stare at each other for several long seconds. Licking his lips, Keith glances at his bedroom door and wonders how fast he could open it and make an escape. “You're really dense and a bit of a moron.”

“So I've been told.”

“I do like you. A lot. That's why this marriage thing seems like a big joke from the universe. One where I'm the butt of it.” Keith mumbles, still avoiding eye contact with Lance.

Lance is wide eyed and stunned as his eyes focus on how bright red Keith's face is. He's pretty sure his own face is a similar shade of red. He's not sure what to say or if he really _should_ say anything now. His hearts racing and his palms feel unnaturally sweaty.

“I um—I'm...” _smooth Lance, real smooth_. “Do you mean like.... like, like me?” Lance mumbles, frowning as Keith lets out a long exaggerated groan, drops back to the bed beside him and buries his face in his palms before nodding. Lance can't see Keith's expression anymore but he's sure the boy looks mortified right now. Sucking in a deep breath, Lance slowly scoots closer to Keith and gingerly reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder. “It's okay.”

There's a loud clap filling the room and then Lance's arm stings and he quickly realizes Keith had slapped his arm pretty harshly. “Don't touch me. Is that seriously all you can say?” they're face to face again and Lance can see the tears building in the corners of Keith's eyes and how red they're becoming. And it really is all he can say because he's speechless.

“It was stupid.” Keith breathes out, face returning to his palms and shoulders sagging a little. With a shaky hand, Lance reaches out to touch Keith's wrist and gain his attention.

“I'm sorry. I didn't know. I am dense, I'm an idiot, a moron, stupid and inconsiderate.” he says it all with hurt lingering in his tone and a sad smile on his lips. “If I'd known I wouldn't have pushed you this far, I... want you to know that. I wouldn't have. I'm not that much of an asshole, I really am sorry now that I know how you feel.”

The face Keith is making... Lance isn't sure what to call it. Thankfulness? Hope? Acceptance? It was _something_. “But?” Keith questions and Lance frowns with the slightest of shrugs.

“But I can't say it back... I haven't... I've never really thought of you that way Keith. I'm sorry.” and slowly pulling his hand away from Keith, Lance slides off the bed and stands. “I'm sorry again, I should probably get going though.”

Turning to leave, Lance is pulled to a stop when Keith grabs his wrist tightly, his eyes are focused on the floor and his free hand is pressed against his face, muffling whatever he's speaking.

“Can you repeat that, without your hand in your face?” Lance questions, shuffling his feet until he's turned around and facing Keith once again.

Puffing his cheeks out, Keith drops his hand and mumbles his sentence again but Lance still doesn't catch what he's saying. A smile tugging at the corners of Lance's lips, he takes a few steps until he's standing in front of Keith then he's crouching down, hands falling to rest on Keith's knees and Lance is all but shoving himself between Keith's legs so they're face to face.

“Repeat yourself one more time, yeah?” Lance asks with a reassuring smile and squeeze to Keith's knee and Lance is amazed at the way the blush blossoms from Keith's ears until it's filling his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

“Are you going to stop?” Keith whispers softly like he can't catch his breath.

“Stop what?”

“The nicknames and the joke flirting, the everything? Are you going to stop with all of it?” Keith rephrases, his lips pressing into a thin line. He can faintly see the freckles dusting Lance's cheeks and nose from this close, just a few shades darker than the rest of his skin. He's never noticed them before but Keith wants to commit each freckle to memory. He wants to memorize the exact location of each one, even if that seems like an impossible task.

“Oh.” Lance hums, eyes moving to focus on the floor for a fraction of a second then returning to look at Keith. “I probably should, yeah.” he nods and Keith nearly jumps up but he manages to stop himself.

“No, don't.” there's a pause as he licks his lips and swallows hard. “Please?”

That small smile returns to Lance's lips and he nods slowly. “If it keeps you smiling, I won't stop, alright babe?” his tone is sincere and gentle and Keith wants them to stay in this position for longer than the two minutes it's been.

“Thanks.” and for once, it seems like the universe gives Keith exactly what he wants because they sit there for several more minutes, smiling and Lance shifting to sit against his heels, elbows falling to rest on Keith's thighs and his hands clasping together under his chin to hold his head up as they talk.

It feels like it's only been a few minutes when Lance sits back, stretches and let's out a yawn. “I should actually head out now, but I'll see you in the morning, alright?” he's got a smile plastered to his face as he stands and Keith nods slowly before hands are pressing to both his cheeks, stopping his head and lips are pressed to his forehead and a quick kiss. “Goodnight, babe.”

“Um... goodnight Lance.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT, so the cats out of the bag. Keith has major gay feelings for Lance while Lance is.... _hmmrrr_ yeah. I actually wrote the next 2 chapters already, I'm working on chapter 9 next and let me just tell you guys...hurhurhur chapter 7 is gay as hell. It includes disney references, kissing, hand holding, Lance putting a lame ass hat on his head and some heart wrenching sad lines. 
> 
> Just giving y'all a heads up on that. I probably won't post the next chapter until Friday though. This one I'm posting so soon after the last update because this is the shortest chapter I've ever written. Didn't even break 2k words for this even though I really tried. And if any of you noticed that the chapter count went down from 32 to 30 it's because this chapter right here, was originally split up into 2 chapters until I realized there wasn't enough content for 1 chapter, let alone 2. And then 31 was a really off number for me so I smushed together 2 other chapters.
> 
> Okay...ummm as usual, if you guys have any questions or just wanna chat, feel free to hmu on my tumblr bluemcclain and all that. Leave some comments on what you think the next chapter could possibly include since it has all that crazy stuff going on in it.


	7. Rule #7

_Always be open with each other and make things work as best you can._

 

* * *

 

 

The following morning at breakfast, Keith is one of the firsts to arrive and Lance is the last. “Morning, Allura, Shiro, Coran, Pidge, Hunk and babe.” he hums, announcing his presence as he takes his seat between Hunk and Keith like normal. Nobody seems to even so much as bat an eye at Lance when he refers to Keith as _babe_ , except of course Keith himself. Breathing out a soft good morning, Keith lets a smile spread across his lips and he's got a _funny_ feeling in his stomach.

The rest of breakfast goes by the same as usual, conversation here and there with everybody and then they're getting ready to head down to the planet they were previously briefed on. _Glarknuff_. The planet itself sounds dangerous but upon actually seeing it Keith notices a few things. It resembles Earth. _A lot_. The bright blue sky, the plants it has, there's a large ocean visible as they get closer and once they land he spots birds flying from the tree tops and what looks like a rabbit.

“Allura, are you sure we're not back on Earth?” he questions over their link.

“Pretty sure. This is Glarknuff, it just looks strikingly like your home planet.” she assures him.

“Very strikingly.” Lance pipes in.

Walking out of his lion, Keith notices he's the last to leave his lion. Meeting up with the rest of the group, Allura turns to look at them. “Shiro and I are going to meet with the Glarkanian leader, it's best if we don't bombard them with a large group. Coran, you have the list of essentials I gave you, right?”

“Got it right here, Princess.” he nods, pulling out a folded slip of paper from his coat pocket.

“Alright, the rest of you are free to either roam around town or stick with Coran. Please... refrain from causing any trouble though.” she jokes and the others nod. Allura and Shiro head off towards the planets castle and after several minutes, Hunk and Pidge head off with Coran and Keith trails behind Lance as they head into the small town nearby.

“Keith, catch up, you're walking so slow.” Lance tosses over his shoulder with a laugh as they start to head towards a crowd. Keith can smell all kinds of food, he can hear laughter, jingling, there's music coming from somewhere in the distance and it all feels oddly welcoming. Soon he's walking right beside Lance, often times brushing against him in an attempt to avoid running into somebody else.

“Keith!” Lance chirps, reaching out and grabbing his wrist to pull him off to the side and up to a stand. “Look, look at the hats.” he howls with laughter, waving at the stand keeper and reaching out to grab a blue hat that has a fish spinning around on it. Pulling it onto his head he grins at Keith. “Well? How do I look?”

“Do you want the truth or a lie?”

“Whichever one is gonna boost my confidence.” Lance laughs.

Snorting, Keith nods. “You look fantastic then.”

“Thanks, look there's a red one with a bird on it.” Lance gasps, grabbing it and reaching to put it on Keith who reaches up and holds Lance's hands up and away from his head.

“Nope, not putting that on.”

“Aw, come on, please, don't be a party pooper.” Lance frowns but Keith holds his ground and with a roll of his eyes, Lance sets the hat back on the shelf. Pulling his off as well, he puts it back and waves goodbye to the stand keeper. They walk from stand to stand, admiring the different knickknacks and items of clothing they find around the market place.

“Are you guys humans?” pausing at the question, both boys look around until they spot a dirty yellow skinned alien with sparkling white horns and bright blue eyes to rival Allura's.

Blinking a few times at the alien, Lance glances around then points a finger at himself and the alien nods. “Yeah, we're human, why?”

“Didn't know they finally got advanced enough to travel out this far!” they yellow guy laughs, slapping their knee. “How long did it take?”

“Uh?”

“No, actually humans still can't travel out here. We're actually with Voltron.” Keith states, arms crossing over his chest and hip jutting out to the side as he leans his weight onto one leg.

“Voltron?” the alien questions, eyes narrowing. “Like from Altea?”

“The one and only!” Lance confirms with a chirp. Then ever so slowly the alien's face lights up and he's cheering and howling, both Lance and Keith stepping back in surprise.

“You guys hear that?” the alien cheers, the crowd around them turning heads to look and listen. “Voltron is back! The Galra is going down and these are two of the paladins!” there's a bit of cheering around the market and Keith lets out a small groan.

“This might be the kind of thing Allura wanted us to not do.”

Lance nods, lips puckered in thought. “Probably. We should start to head off then.” he laughs, taking Keith's hand in his and pulling him away from the alien who was still causing a commotion, going on and on about how Voltron would save everybody. They walk past a few stands before one of the shop keepers reaches out to stop them.

“Wait! Try some.” he all but shouts as he holds out a platter with what look like chicken wings, only giant. Lance is the first to reach out and grab one, looking it over then turning to Keith and holding it up to his face.

“Here, take a bite.”

“W-what?” Keith reaches up and lowers Lance's hand from his face, eyebrows raising in confusion. “You try it first.”

Rolling his eyes, Lance brings the meat to his face, sniffs it then takes a bite, chewing for a second before swallowing with a smile. “You _have to_ try this.” and again the wing is shoved up to Keith's face. There's a split second of hesitation but then Keith leans forward and he's taking a chunk of the meat into his mouth. Immediately he feels his mouth tingle at the taste, it's like nothing he's had before. Indescribable, delicious, it tastes the way he'd imagine sunshine would.

“Holy...”

“Right?! Hunk is gonna be so jealous when I tell him about this.” Lance laughs, bringing the wing back to his mouth only to have Keith stop him and snatch it away. “Hey! Get your own!” he laughs, pulling Keith into his arms and trying to grab the meat back but Keith quickly darts his tongue out to lick the wing and claim it as his own. “Gross.”

They're both laughing, but the stand owner quickly offers Lance a second wing, free of charge which he gladly accepts. As they stand there finishing their wings, Lance hums in delight and looks at Keith, talking between bites. “You know, we should've had this at our wedding feast.”

Scoffing, Keith tosses the bone to his wing in the trash can and wipes his mouth. “It was hardly a feast for our wedding.”

“The two of you are married?” the alien behind the counter questions, pausing his grilling to blink at them.

Keith is ready to give the _it's complicated, but not really_ answer but Lance beats him to talking first. “Yeah, we're really in love.” he grins and Keith is almost positive that if he'd still been eating he would've choked at that answer.

“What?”

“Oh, please tell us the story!” it's another alien behind them, their voice a high pitch, almost feminine and soon several others are gathering around them all nodding in agreement about wanting to hear the story.

“Alright, alright. Let me just warn you guys though, the story is pretty crazy. It goes back a few years ago, so it might be a little long.” he laughs and Keith stands there speechless. Where the hell was Lance going with this? “Um, you're okay with me telling the story, right angel eyes?” Lance questions, eyes focusing on Keith's expression. His eyes are wide but he nods slowly, now interested in what exactly Lance was going to tell all these aliens.

“Oh, please start! Please.” somebody behind Keith begs and Lance nods, leaning against the table top of the alien who'd originally asked them about their marriage.

“Alright, so back on Earth, Keith here and I went to the same school. You know, the first time I saw him I was in awe. Keith was— _is_ the most beautiful person I've ever seen in this world—no, this _universe_.” Keith can hear a few aliens squeal in delight and he can feel his own heart flutter at the words and how sincere they sound. “I was sure I wanted to date this guy, until he one upped me in class and then our rivalry began. I pretended to hate him, and for a while I did hate him.” there's an audible gasp and Keith can feel the frown tugging at the corner of his lips. “Then he dropped out of school and disappeared for like a whole year. During that year it was easier to convince myself that I hated him because I didn't have to see his pretty face and lame hair everyday anymore.”

“But you guys found each other again, right?” it sounds like a child and Keith wants to shout out a _duh, we're together now aren't we?_ But he bites his tongue while Lance laughs.

“Of course we did. A year after he left our best friend escaped from the Galra ship and crash landed on Earth. We saved him together and Keith pretended to not know who I was. For a while after that we fought every time we talked or were even near each other. But, Keith only fought back with me because he was trying to hide his real feelings. He liked me. A lot and I was too dense to realize I did too.” Lance sounds... almost sad and Keith tries his best to not let his hopes get high. He couldn't bear the disappoint when this little fairy tale ended. It had to all be for show, it had to be. “There were several times where I should've noticed. Like once I almost died and Keith cradled me in his arms, he was hurt when I pretended to not remember. But I was definitely getting back at him for not remembering my name when we saved our friend, Shiro.” Lance and the others laugh and while Keith pretends to chuckle, his eye twitches in a wince at the memory.

“Anyway though, we went through a lot. This alien girl, Nyma tricked me and she stole my lion but Keith got it back for me and saved me, yet again. Then we all got separated in a worm hole once but we all found our way back to each other. And with each passing day I started to get along with Keith better. I started to like being around him.” Lance's voice is soft and Keith is almost definitely convinced that Lance is speaking the complete and utter truth about all of this. “So then we traveled to this planet called Purpuratrabea,”

“Iratusgenus.” Keith interrupts.

“What?”

“The planet, it was called Iratusgenus, Purpuratrabea was the name of the species living there.” Keith explains and with a laugh, Lance nods.

“He has a habit for never letting my mistakes slip by.” a real smile forms across Keith's lips and he waves Lance on to continue the story. “Alright, so we get to _Iratusgenus_ and get this, the people there get married by yelling at each other! And what do angel eyes and I do better than anything? Yell at each other. Turns out we accidentally get engaged and married and we're both so confused and arguing with the king saying there's a mistake but then he says we _have_ to get married because of the ritual and our alliance is at risk if we ruin their reputation for never having a divorce and such. Now, keep in mind, at this point Keith and I aren't even dating so we finally agree and it turns out to be the best thing ever. Well, maybe not at first but it gets better.”

“Did you guys kiss at the wedding?”

“Of course! What kind of wedding would it be if we didn't?” Lance chuckles, winking at Keith who looks away in a fluster. “It was probably the best first kiss I've ever had. It was like there were sparks. I saw stars and Keith's lips were as soft as clouds.” Lance's tone is that of admiration and Keith's legs suddenly feel like jelly. “I remember the moment perfectly, you guys probably don't have Disney movies here, but there's this one song. _Kiss the Girl_ , or in this case, the boy. But this song is like the ultimate song to describe when you want to kiss somebody so badly.”

“How's the song go?”

Lance has a look of hesitation on his face for a second then he looks at Keith and a smile forms across his face. “There you see him, sitting there across the way, he don't got a lot to say but there's something about him, and you don't know why but you're dying to kiss the guy.” Lance's voice is soothing, mesmerizing and Keith has to hold onto the counter to keep himself up steady. Lance continues to hum the song and then he's stepping up to Keith, clasping their hands together and placing one on Keith's waist as he begins to spin them around slowly. “Shalalala my oh my, looks like the boy's too shy, ain't gonna kiss the guy.”

“Lance, what are you—?”

“Shalalala, ain't that sad, it's such a shame, too bad, you're gonna miss the guy. Go on and kiss the guy.” _were those bedroom eyes?_ Keith was finding it hard to breath suddenly as they spun around and... and oh was Lance leaning in? Keith could feel his ears and cheeks heating up and he was painfully aware of all the aliens watching them too. “That kiss should've been what made me realize I was also head over heels for Keith.” Lance whispers and Keith feels like he's talking more between them than sharing with everybody as a story. “But instead I hurt Keith's feelings over and over the past few weeks. Until last night when Keith finally told me everything. Finally opened my eyes and made me realize how stupid I was being.”

“And you guys shared another kiss?”

“Heh, no, not yet.” Lance chuckles, his grip on Keith's waist tightening just slightly. “But like the song says,” and the moment their eyes meet everything else disappears for Keith. It's just him and Lance, chest to chest, hand in hand and lips just inches apart. “You got that boy too shy,” then lips are pressed together once again. Keith's heart stops, he's sure of it but the way his cheeks burn he knows he's still alive. The lips pressed to his aren't chapped this time, they're soft. Softer than he was expecting, the kiss is gentle, chaste and doesn't last as long as Keith would've wished for. His eyes are still shut when Lance pulls away but their foreheads are still pressed together and then cheers are flooding his ears and he realizes his heart didn't stop, it was just beating too fast for him to tell the difference.

His mouth feels dry and his palms feel too sweaty. He's still afraid to open his eyes, like he'll wake up back in his room and realize it was all just a dream. Keith is ready to commit to never opening his eyes again if it means this moment was real, but his blood runs cold when he feels a warm puff of breath beside his ear and a whispered apology.

Lance feels like he's having an out of body experience. He's fully aware that he's still holding Keith's hand and waist and he doesn't make a move to let go just yet. Not until after he apologizes and quickly, he's stepping back, hand leaving the others waist but keeping their fingers interlocked. “Alright, so that's the end basically, anyway though, we should really get going, our Princess is expecting us back by now, look at the time.” Lance laughs, waving at the aliens and pulling Keith along beside him. He's rushing through the market place, vaguely aware of Keith's shouts of protest and his name being shouted over the sounds of the crowd around them.

_Lance!_

_Lance, let go, what was that about?_

_What the hell?_

_What the **actual** hell?_

_Lance, I know you can hear me!_

_Lance I swear to god!_

_Damn it Lance!_

Finally spotting their lions in the distance he notices the others are already gone except the red and blue lions. Pausing, he turns to face Keith only to have him run right into him. His hand slips out of Keith's and he catches the slightly shorter boy by the shoulders. They're staring at one another and Keith's bottom lip is pressed out in an angry pout.

“What was that all about?” he demands, pushing off Lance and taking a few steps back, hand pointed in the direction they had just come from. Lance is silent, not too sure what that was all about himself. “Are you just playing with my feelings? One second you say they aren't a joke to you and that you'll be careful about them and then.... and then you pull some _shit_ like this!” Keith is screaming and Lance flinches back at the tone. He'd never been good with shouting directed at him. But Lance doesn't blame him for how angry he must feel right now.

Lance has to say something, tell Keith was his true intentions were. He.... he had to be open and honest.

_Always be open with each other and make things work as best you can._

Biting his lip, Lance looks around, shifting his weight from one foot to the other over and over again. “I'm not messing with your feelings, not on purpose, I'm not.”

“Then what the hell.”

“I'm... I was being serious with everything I said back there.” Lance admits, eyes resting on Keith's face for a second then looking away.

“You were being serious about the Garrison thing? About when you first saw me?”

A slow nod from Lance and then Keith's expression is unreadable. “It felt like that one song from Cinderella. The one 'So this is love' when I first saw you.”

“Do you compare everything to a Disney song?” Keith asks, single eyebrow raised with the question.

“Kind of but that's beside the point. Look, everything I said was serious, I'm not that good of an actor to fake that whole story.” Lance mumbles, licking his lips and shifting around again nervously. “You said you liked me a lot now Keith, and truth be told I still sometimes see us as rivals. I don't mean to but I do.”

“Alright.”

“But I don't want to see us that way. I don't. I want to be able to say I feel the same about you that you feel about me.”

They're both silent for longer than Keith is comfortable for, so he breaks the silence. “Lance, don't—”

“No, Keith listen. I _want_ to be able to one day.... one day say I love you, okay? I really, really want to but I just... I just need some time to get there first. Alright?”

Another long pause and Keith wants to reply with _alright_ but his eyes sting and he doesn't trust his voice to not crack if he speaks, so instead he nods slowly and Lance steps forward, hands cupping Keith's face in that familiar way from the previous day.

“I'm sorry for all of this.” he whispers and a kiss is planted against Keith's forehead before Lance lets go and turns to leave for his lion.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's like a ~fairy tale~ though. Also I don't know what kind of meat that alien guy gave them but just imagine how sunshine would taste and there you have it. I wish we could try alien food man but I'm probably gonna be way too old to travel through space by the time we can actually travel and find aliens.


	8. Rule #8

_Never take joy from each other_

 

* * *

 

 

Lance is back in his lion before Keith has even moved and he waits to take off. He can feel Blue sending him positive feelings, and a smile graces his face before he pats the dashboard.

“You'll always be there for me, won't you, girl?”

“Are you guys heading back yet?” it's Shiro and Lance jumps as he suddenly shows up across his screen inside the cockpit.

“Um—uh yeah, heading back right now.” Lance nods and Shiro nods in response, hanging up the call. That's when Lance notices red is already gone and he scuffs at the realization that Keith hadn't bothered to wait for him like he had. Taking off, he reaches the castle a few minutes after Keith and decides to give him space for tonight. He checks in with Allura and Shiro over how the meeting went and they tell him it went smoothly. They have an alliance there now and can stop for supplies anytime they need as well. Lance tells them about his and Keith's trip to the market, leaving out the part about the love story in the market square... for reasons.

He meets up with Hunk and Pidge next and they're chatting about some technology they bought and how to use it, after several minutes of conversation he didn't understand, Lance excuses himself to head to bed. He runs into Coran on the way however and like always, Coran is quick to pick up on Lance's mood.

“What's got you down in the dumps, Lance?”

“Not much really, I'm just,” Coran gives him a skeptical look and Lance huffs. “Boys.”

“Ah, boy troubles. Allura used to have those as a kid, until, well until Zarkon did his thing and all boy troubles were forgotten. She recently had some with Shiro though, you know.”

“Shiro?”

“Yup! If I'm not mistaken they're _dating_ now.” Coran's face scrunches up in that of excitement and Lance can't help but snort with laughter. “But come on now, are you going to tell me about what's happening with you and Keith or what?”

Lance's face visibly pales a bit and he waves a hand in front of him, eyes suddenly focused on the ceiling and lips puckered as he blew out an exaggerated raspberry. “Who said anything about Keith?”

“Dare I ask who else it could be then?” Coran teases and Lance runs his mouth before even thinking.

“Pidge.”

Dead silence. Coran blinks a few times and Lance can feel his cheeks heating up faster than he's comfortable with. He feels ready to explode when Coran cracks a smile. “How about we keep this boy nameless then?”

Lance's eyes trail down to look at Coran who has an amused look on his face and letting his shoulders sag a bit, Lance nods. “This guy, nameless, he told me he likes me. Romantically. A lot. But I couldn't say the same for him, Coran I really couldn't.”

“Is it perhaps because you think you've got to one up him constantly?”

“ _Kind of_ , yeah. I did like him once, the first time I ever met him but then he really, really irked me and I just started to hate him. And I want to be able to like him back, I really do but...”

“But you're stuck with that bottled up hate?” Coran supplied.

“Yeah! Exactly and I did something stupid. So stupid, I accidentally played with his feelings and then I told him I just needed time to like him back the way he deserved. I didn't—no I phrased that badly, I'm not playing with his feelings on purpose, I'm just... I want to mean them but I'm afraid he probably thinks I'm just messing with him now. I don't know what to do.”

Coran has his chin in his hand and index finger drumming against his lips while he hums in acknowledgment. He waits a moment longer to see if Lance has anything else to add, then finally talks. “I think this is something you should tell Ke—nameless. I think spending some time with him as well will help you realize how you truly feel for him. Maybe, one day set up some kind of first date. Pretend you're meeting for the first time, see how it goes and how you feel.”

Nodding, Lance takes a deep breath and huffs it out. “Right. Thanks Coran, I'll actually keep that in mind.”

“No problem, I'm always here if you need to talk about anything.”

The following morning Keith doesn't show up for breakfast and when Lance raises his concerns, they're swept aside by Shiro claiming Keith was feeling sick that morning. Keith doesn't show up for training either and Lance tells himself he's just sick. Maybe the meat they ate didn't sit well with Keith. And by lunch time Lance is worried Keith is going to starve.

Or at least that's what he tells himself when he's standing outside of Keith's room, bowl of green goo in hand. He knocks three times and steps back to wait for the door to open, not really wanting a repeat of the last time the door had opened unexpectedly.

“Hey.” Lance is ready to chirp back a greeting when he realizes two things. One; Keith most definitely was not sick. Or at least, he didn't look sick. And two; Keith was wearing boxers. Only boxers. Lance tries his hardest to focus on Keith's face but his eyes keep drifting lower to notice how perfectly his abs are outlined. How toned he looks, his arms look—shaking his head, Lance coughs awkwardly and holds out the bowl.

“I thought you might be hungry... since you didn't go to breakfast or lunch.”

Keith's eyes momentarily settle on the bowl being held out to him and his mind flashes back to the food Shiro had already brought him an hour ago. Of course, he doesn't mention this as he takes the bowl thankfully into his hands. “Thanks that was... thoughtful.”

“Yeah, I—well didn't want you starving, you know?” Lance laughs nervously, hand scratching at his cheek before glancing behind Keith. “Can I come in?”

“Huh? Oh, sure, if you want.” Keith nods, stepping aside to let the slightly taller boy in. Sneakily setting the bowl down, Keith leans against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest, suddenly feeling over exposed. He notices Lance isn't wearing his shoes and he's about to ask where they are when Lance speaks up first.

“Aren't you cold?”

“What?”

“Well, I mean you're basically naked. Aren't you cold?” Lance repeats, shrugging off his jacket and stepping up in front of Keith.

Blinking rapidly a few times, Keith's finger twitch and he shrugs slowly. “I'm... not—sure... kind of.”

Lance snorts a bit at the answer and holds his jacket out. “You can use if you want, I noticed you were just staring at me, kind of. Or actually my feet, you're probably wondering where my shoes are, aren't you?” taking the jacket into his hands, Keith looks it over for a minute before pulling it on, noticing it's still warm and it smells... it smells like sea salt and cotton candy.

“Yeah, I was wondering about that.”

“I gave them to Pidge. I asked Hunk if they could add like wheels to the heels, like heelies. Hunk said sure and Pidge agreed to help but I feel like she's probably gonna do something evil to them.” Lance explains, moving to the bed and sprawling out across it. “So I might have you test check them for me, alright?”

“Alright.” Keith nods, fumbling with the jackets zipper then rolling the sleeves up once. They sit in silence for several minutes, Lance staring at the ceiling and as if by some coincidence, they both speak at the same time.

“Keith, I was thinking—”

“I want you to stop.”

Silence, then a unified _what?_ Another few seconds of silence and then _you go first—oh um._

Sitting up, Lance laughs and waves Keith on with a flick of his wrist. “Go on, you go first.”

“I want you stop with everything.” Keith blurts out and the smile slowly disappears from Lance's face. “With the marriage stuff, the teasing, the nicknames, worrying about me. I want you to stop all of it.”

“There you go again, turning around and telling me to jump but you really mean for me to duck.” Lance snaps and Keith's eyes narrow in confusion.

“What does that even mean?”

“Just the other day you practically _begged_ me not to stop with all the teasing and now you want me to stop?” Lance questions. “I don't get you, Keith. I don't get what you want from me.”

“I want you to not force something you don't want!” Keith answered.

“But I do!” Lance is quickly on his feet and walking towards Keith who's frozen in place. “I do want this, I do! I just need to get there fully, not half assing it. I do want this.”

“No, no you don't if you have to work for it like this!” Keith cries out, hands flying up to hold Lance away at arms length. They're staring at each other for a second and Keith continues to talk. “Back on that planet, you told me you just needed time to like me back the way I like you, Lance if we ever had a relationship it'd be forced and you know it. That marriage put us in a tough spot but I don't want you forcing this. Not because of me.”

Lance reaches up to grab both of Keith's wrists and lower both their hands between them. “I'm not forcing it Keith, I'm doing it the way a real relationship would work. I'm working out my feelings, they're all over the place right now. One minute I... I want to hold your hand and kiss your face but then the next I want to kick your ass at being a better pilot. I know that rivalry between us was stupid but it's there, at least in my mind.” Lance explains, stomach knotting in guilt. “Because of it I can't fully accept I fell for you just yet.”

“That's bullshit and you know it.” Keith sneers, eyes narrowed but focused on Lance's chest to avoid the expression on his face.

“I'm telling you how I feel and you're saying it's bullshit?” Lance bursts out, hands flying away from Keith and... was that hurt written across his face? “Keith, what the hell?”

“I'm telling you how _I_ feel and you're telling me I'm wrong!”

“No I'm not!”

“You are! I'm telling you I don't want you to force it and you're telling me I'm wrong!” Keith croaks, coughing at the end of his words and turning away from Lance.

“Because you're tell me what I'm saying is bullshit.” Lance replies, shifting around to get a better look at Keith. “Can we please, just please see where this goes or could go?”

“What if I don't want to, Lance?”

“I know you do. Stop being so selfless, think about yourself for once. I want this and you want this and we're already married, we could make this work.” Lance tries to laugh but it comes out more like a choked noise. “Keith?”

“I'm not being selfless, I'm being selfish.”

“What?”

“You're right, I do want this but I don't want to get hurt. I'm being selfish and turning you down because I don't want to get hurt. I don't.” Keith clarifies, his arms curling around his sides, thankful for the extra warmth Lance's jacket provides— _Lance's jacket_.

“Oh.” he sounds hurt and Keith wants nothing more than to turn to him and pull him into a hug. “Hey, look at me.” hesitating for a second, Keith turns slowly to find Lance staring at him and holding a hand out to him. Looking between Lance's out stretched hand and his face, Keith raises an eyebrow.

“What are you...”

“Hi, nice to meet you, my names Lance.” _right_. Keith slowly reaches out and shakes Lance's hand.

“Keith.”

“We never properly introduced ourselves. You're that kid from the Garrison, right? The really amazing pilot?”

“Lance what are you doing?”

“Coran told me to pretend we were meeting for the first time, see how I feel after that. He said it would help me clear up my feelings.” Lance explains, shoving his hands into his back pockets.

“You can't do that while we're in the middle of a conversation and I'm wearing your jacket and a pair of boxers. That's a weird first meeting.” Keith snorts, shoulders shaking with laughter.

Lance wants to argue that he can do it whenever he wants but instead he laughs along with Keith. “No, I guess not.” they're laughing for several minutes when Lance reaches out and cups Keith's face, smile lingering on his lips. “You do know I'm glad I met you, right? Well, I mean I'm glad I got to get to know you. The person I pegged you for... that guy I hated. The guy you _are_ is the one I like.”

Keith opens his mouth to respond but he has nothing to say. He's speechless and he's extremely aware of how warm Lance's skin is against his cheeks.

“I'm really sorry for putting you through all of this Keith, I really am.” once the words register in Keith's mind he does something he hasn't exactly done since he was thirteen.

He starts to cry.

He doesn't mean to but the cry slips past his lips and the look of shock on Lance's face makes his tears start rolling down his cheeks. He slides to the floor slowly, arms reaching up to hold his shoulders and curl in on himself. Lance is down beside him in seconds and he's apologizing over and over again, whispering words of comfort and then pulling him into a hug.

“Shh, shh, it's okay, I've got you.” Lance coos, pulling Keith tightly against him and kissing his temple. “I'm here, I've got you, it's okay.” Keith's hair is soft, and he smells like that Altean soap Coran had given all of them. Flowery. “I'm sorry.”

“S-shut up. St-top apologizing.” Keith cried into Lance's shirt, arms still crossed over his chest and skin burning each time Lance placed a kiss on his temple.

“Alright, okay. I just want you to be okay.” Lance whispers, one hand resting on Keith's arm and the other on the back of his neck. “Hey, babe, look at me.”

And there he went again, sending goosebumps up Keith's arms just by calling him _babe_ like it was nothing. Still, Keith takes a second to calm his cries into sniffles before leaning back to look Lance in the eye. “Yeah?”

Lance has the smallest smile on his lips, eyes looking gentle and his fingers caressing the nape of Keith's neck lightly. “We're gonna make this work, alright? Listen, my parents used to have these rules, these 30 rules to marriage or what not. One of them was 'never take joy from each other' and that's still going to apply to us here. If I backed off and we gave up without even trying we'd _both_ be breaking that rule. We would be taking away each others joy, yeah? So we're _not_ going to break that rule.”

Thirty rules? Keith suddenly begins to wonder if Lance has been thinking of those rules the whole time. If he'd been thinking of them since the first day they were 'married' or if it was something he'd _just_ remembered. Nonetheless, Keith wants to protest, wants to go back to shouting and telling Lance it was bullshit but every thought he had instantly vanished when Lance presses his lips to the corner of Keith's own. “I'm that close to loving you with everything in me.”

And suddenly Keith wasn't sure what he was feeling but he was willing to find out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh hope you guys liked that! Next update will be in exactly one week, Monday's from now on!


	9. Rule #9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Small note. Half way through the chapter it switches between Hunk/Lance convo and Keith/Shiro convo. When the text gets _italicized_ it's Keith and Shiro.**

_Kiss each other lovingly daily._

 

* * *

 

They spend the rest of the afternoon together, neither going to dinner. There's plenty of cheek kisses, some hand holding and a bit of spooning on the bed until it's late and both are nearly asleep.

“Keith?”

“Hm?” said person hums, shifting back slightly to press more against Lance who has his arms wrapped around Keith.

“I should go to my room.” that sentence alone is enough to force Keith's eyes open and his mind return to reality.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, no you probably should. It's late.” Keith nods, rolling over and out of Lance's grip then swinging his feet off the bed to sit up. “Here's your jacket.” he goes to unzip it but Lance leans against his back, chin resting on his shoulder and hands stopping Keith from unzipping the jacket.

“Keep it, for now. You can give it to me in the morning, okay?” Keith nods slowly, heart picking up when Lance presses a kiss against his neck. “I'll see you in the morning angel eyes.” and then Lance's arms are gone from Keith's, his chin gone from his shoulder and he's standing in front of Keith, waving goodbye and gone seconds later. Leaving behind Keith to wonder just what they were now. Boyfriends? Friends figuring things out? Married? _Oh god_ , was Keith going to be a booty call?

Keith lays awake most of the night after that, sleeves pressed to his face as he breathes in the scent of the jacket, mind racing to the infinite possibilities that tonight could leave them with. Keith is showered, dressed and standing in the hall far earlier than usual and he's just as surprised to see Lance walking around just as early.

“Hey, I have your jacket.” Keith announces after clearing his throat.

Pausing his pacing, Lance glances up and smiles before stretching a hand out to take the jacket. “Thanks. Um, so how'd you sleep last night?”

“Like a baby.” he doesn't mean he slept through the night, he means he was up all night the way most snot nosed kids usually were.

“Oh. Yeah, yeah me too.” Lance nods and then they wait in silence for the others to come in for breakfast. Keith wants to say more but nothing comes to mind. Actually, no words come out of his mouth for all of breakfast. And no words come out of Lance's mouth either.

Breakfast is, to say the least, _awkward_. Hunk and Pidge try to talk about a new feature they're adding to the lions but their conversation falls silent after a while and the silence is finally broken when Allura excuses herself followed by Coran in a hurry.

“As fun and.... well awkward as this breakfast has been, I'm leaving too. This is too much awkward for me.” Pidge announces, taking her bowl and promptly leaving, Lance coughing as the four paladins left stare at each other. Keith is staring Shiro dead in the eye, something about the way he sits screams _help me_ and everybody but Lance seems to notice.

“Hey Lance?”

“Yeah buddy?”

“Can we like... um step out and talk for a minute. I have a small, very tiny, mini problem that I want to discuss with you.” Hunk adds a small laugh at the end and he's quickly up and dragging Lance into the hall before he can even agree. “Mind telling me what's wrong with you and Keith? You guys made everybody feel like they just had lunch with their ex.”

Lance scrunches up his nose at the comparison but shrugs. “I don't know, things got a little awkward we uh... we kind of spooned.”

“ _Wait so you guys.... you basically boned him?” Shiro snorts, hand slapping over his mouth in a very poor attempt to stop his laughter. Keith looks absolutely mortified._

“ _This is why I hate telling you about this stop, oh my god Shiro, grow up!” Keith snaps, sliding his bowl across the table to Shiro. “And no, it wasn't boning. We just cuddled, spooned, he had his arms around me and he was soft and warm.”_

“ _You sound like an eighties romance novel.”_

“ _I swear I'll drown you in this goo if you say one more annoying thing Shiro, adopted brother or not, I'll end you myself.” Keith growls, arms crossing over his chest as he slumps in his seat._

“Hunk, I'm just really confused. I told him I needed some time but last night... last night I was kissing his damn face and holding his hand and he was _wearing_ my jacket! Hunk, he had on my jacket and a pair of boxers and that was it! I don't think my heart has ever worked overtime like it did when I saw him putting on my jacket, the sleeves were too long. He had to roll them up and I thought my heart was gonna give out as I watched him roll them up.” Lance cries out, banging his head against the wall lightly, Hunk awkwardly patting his back.

“It's alright buddy, let out all the gay thoughts, no judgment here.”

Lance pauses his head banging and turns his head to glare at Hunk, frown spread across his face. “Dude you have two moms, there better be no judgment here.”

“Okay but in all seriousness Lance, what's the problem here? Keith likes you, right? And you like him, just date already, it'll help you with getting over that dumb rivalry.” Hunk offers, Lance shrugging.

“Probably but last night Keith told me he didn't want to date. He was being selfish because he didn't want to get hurt. Hunk, I don't want to hurt him. What if we start dating and... and I realize I don't actually like him romantically? What if I make him cry and Shiro murders me? Scratch that, I made him cry last night but on accident—I think, hope. Hunk I hate this.”

“Whoa, wait, you made _Keith_ cry? Dude if Shiro finds out you're dead. Deader than Zarkon is gonna be.”

“Hunk!”

“Right, sorry. Okay but that's the whole point of dating. You date and you figure things out, nobody is going to blame you if your feelings go away or you both end up not happy with dating, it happens. It's normal, so don't let that hold you guys back, you got it?”

 _Keith slams his head against the table as Shiro lists off all the things Keith has done since the marriage that prove he's basically in love with Lance. “You stare at his butt sometimes, which I find really weird considering Lance has like no butt to begin with. You don't insult him as much anymore, you blush when he calls you names, uh_ you blush _like that's something Keith Kogane doesn't do. Should I keep going?”_

“ _No. Stop, nobody told you to start to begin with.” Keith growls into the table, shifting to look up at Shiro who is smirking like he just won the lottery._

_“Okay, but really, what's holding you back?”_

“ _Fear.”_

“ _You're an idiot.”_

“ _No, listen Shiro, you don't understand.” Keith starts, pushing to sit up and look his brother dead in the eyes. “Lance told me he had a crush on me the first time he saw me but then he hated me because I was better at everything than him. And then on that one planet he told the entire fucking town that we were in love and he kissed me! On the lips, Shiro, he kissed me on my damn lips.” Shiro looks ready to burst with laughter and Keith let's it slide as he continues to rant. “And then when we got back to our lions he was all, I just need time to love you the way you love me Keith,” his voice goes deeper in a mock Lance tone and Shiro is really about to lose it. “And then yesterday! We talked a lot and then he kissed the corner of my lips, Shiro who the fuck does that? What is this some romcom movie? He kissed the corner of my lips and was like, I'm that close to loving you with everything in me. Shiro what the hell do I even say to that?”_

“ _What_ did _you say to that?”_

“ _I can't remember, I was crying.”_

“ _Wait—what you were crying?”_

_Groaning, Keith grabs at his hair in frustration and nods. “Yes, beside the point, but then we cuddled, spooned, all that and then this morning was awkward, you were there.”_

“ _I think you might need some time away from him and all of this mushy gushy stuff to clear your head. No more tip toeing around it all, you need to get a straight forward answer from Lance because I'm not about to let my baby brother be a booty call.”_

“ _Oh my god, Shiro shut your fuck.”_

“Dude you know what you need to do.” Hunk decides, pulling Lance away from the wall and shaking him a bit. “You. Know. What. You. Got. To. Do.”

“Hunk, please, stop.” Lance groans, pushing away from the bigger guy and stumbling back. “Clarify.”

“Ask him to be your boyfriend.”

“But I'm afraid.”

“Don't let fear hold you back, just do it. Lance, just _do it_.”

“Did you just... did you—”

“I'm not proud that I just did that, but yes, yes I did just reference a meme and don't you dare mention that to anybody, ever or I'm telling them you boned Keith.” Hunk deadpans, Lance letting out a snort as he nods.

“Alright, okay I won't tell anybody. But... if I follow your advice and ask him out and things go right and he ends up being my boyfriend then... who's gonna be surprised that we boned?”

“You make a good point but I think Shiro might still care if you bone Keith.”

“ _Tell him to stop.”_

“ _I don't want him to though.”_

“ _Just to clear your mind Keith, tell him you need some space and think things over, see how everything feels and see how he feels after you guys give each other some space.”_

“ _You know his parents taught him some thirty rules to marriage and he's been using them for us I think.” Keith sighs, “He cares, I already know that much. I don't want him to stop, we've already tried that and it only caused things to be weird between us and for Lance to completely avoid me for a few days.”_

“ _So that's what that was about.”_

“ _Yeah.”_

“ _Listen, nothing is going to get resolved if you guys aren't straight to the point. Either date or end it completely. Don't play with each others emotions that's only going to make it harder if things don't work out from either end. I don't want to see you get hurt, Keith.”_

“ _Trust me, I don't want to get hurt.” pushing his chair back, Keith gets up, and gives Shiro a convincing smile. “I'll talk to him later, alright? You're washing my bowl by the way, for being the annoying brother I always knew you were.”_

“ _Fair enough.”_

“You've got this Keith, just knock and tell him to knock it off.” he pauses for a second, wondering if that would count as a pun, then he mentally slaps himself and steps up to Lance's door, hand held up and ready to knock. He stares at the door for what feels like several minutes and then drops his hand back to his side. “I can't do it. I'll just come back later.” he's about to leave when the door opens and Lance jumps back at the surprise of seeing Keith there.

“Oh, hey, I was actually just about to come see you.” Lance laughs, lips parting to add something else but Keith shakes his head, holding his hand up to stop Lance.

“We need to take a break.” and that smile Keith loves seeing on Lance's face is suddenly gone. “I know I've said it before and this is probably getting really repetitive but I'm serious this time, we need to take a break. You're running in circles around me and I'm so confused, I'm trying to avoid getting my heart broken and I think we need some time alone to clear our heads.”

“No.”

“What?”

“No, I don't want to take a break.” Lance huffs like a five year old.

“Yes!”

“Nope.” and then Lance's hand is around Keith's wrist and he's being pulled into the blue paladin's room, door shutting behind him and Keith isn't sure exactly what just happened. But when the wall is pressed against his back, and Lance has his hands on the wall on either side of Keith's head, he forgets just what they were even talking about. “No.”

“Wait, what?”

“No, I don't want to take a break and you need to stop offering for us to do that because I know you don't want that either, so, like, maybe chill out with that?”

“What? No, Lance this, whatever this is, isn't good for us either. We're both playing with each other and it's hurting us, I know it is and I hate it.” Keith snaps, wanting to shove Lance away but also pull him closer. _That was an extremely lame thought_.

“Are you saying you... you want a divorce?”

Keith isn't sure what's funnier, the way Lance says _divorce_ or the way his voice is completely serious and his face actually looks betrayed. Either way, he bursts into a fit of laughter, tears forming in his eyes as he tries his best to catch his breath.

His head is pressed against the wall behind him, eyes shut tightly and laughter shaking his whole body. He doesn't care at the moment if his breath smells like goo and he certainly doesn't care if Lance thinks he's laughing at him.

Lance on the other hand can feel his cheeks heating up as he watches Keith laugh harder than ever before. Something about it makes his pulse pick up and his chest feel warm. He liked the way Keith laughed. No, he _loved_ the way Keith laughed.

_Kiss each other lovingly daily._

Maybe that exact moment wasn't the right moment to do it, but Lance wanted to kiss Keith. He wanted to pull him into his arms and press their lips together and call him his. He wanted to so bad.

And he did.

What he hadn't been expecting was to kiss Keith's teeth on accident. He probably should've waited for Keith's laughter to die out but Lance had never really been a patient person, so he did it quick and he did it lovingly despite his lips being pressed to Keith's mouth in a sloppy mess of teeth and choked laughter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ho ho ho happy halloween. 
> 
> Posting this chapter early in the morning (my time, r.i.p) because I'm babysitting until 4pm and then probably going out somewhere for Halloween. But okay!!! Guys!!! Progress!!!!! Kiss kiss, Lance is in love. 
> 
> If you see any typos or anything btw feel free to let me know, I don't think I proofread this chapter... welp


	10. Rule #10

_Despite being married always make sure there is consent_

 

* * *

 

 

There's a split moment of panic when Lance realizes he's kissing teeth instead of lips. And Keith realizes his teeth are being kissed. Of course, Lance freezes in his panic and Keith reacts. His hands fly up to grab Lance's shoulders and shove him back, eye wide and cheeks a dark red.

“You were kissing my teeth!”

Lance quickly becomes a sputtering mess, hands flying around and words meshing together as he struggles to find the right thing to say. “Yeah, well your teeth kiss better than your lips!” and that was definitely not the right thing to say, Lance decides that after he's said it though. Keith's hands are trembling and Lance is almost afraid Keith is about to hit him but instead he starts to laugh and soon Lance is relaxing and laughing too.

“You're a real joke,” Keith laughs, hands reaching out to grab fistfuls of Lance's shirt and pull him back. They're chest to chest and both laughing, Keith's hands still holding onto Lance's shirt and everything feels _right_ at the moment.

Lance is the first to stop his laughter, his eyes run over Keith's face a few times before he waits for Keith's laughter to die down. His hands find their way to Keith's hips and suddenly all traces of laughter are gone. Keith's eyes flicker down between them for a second before meeting Lance's and they're both silent. Both sure the other can hear their heart racing.

“Can I..?”

“Yeah.”

No clarification is needed on either end as to what exactly Lance was asking permission for. A kiss. A _real_ kiss. Keith's eyes shut and he's not sure whether he has to pucker his lips or not, so he stands there and waits for Lance to do _something_. So when lips are nervously pressed to his, Keith swears he momentarily dies.

The kiss is nothing like their first or even their second, it's gentler, slower, and in Keith's opinion, warmer. Lance's lips move first, sliding against Keith's and deepening the kiss just slightly. And when Lance's tongue glides over his bottom lip, Keith lets out a moan he hadn't meant to. He can feel Lance smile into the kiss so he lets his hands move from clutching Lance's shirt to running through his hair.

He's not sure how long they kiss for but when Lance's hands lift him up, Keith breaks the kiss in surprise. His legs wrap around Lance's hips and his hands slap to Lance's shoulders to keep his balance. “What are you..?”

“Moving to the bed.” Lance quickly supplies, tilting his head back up to meet Keith's lips again before doing exactly what he'd just said, laying Keith down, Lance crawls onto the bed with Keith's legs still wrapped around him. They're kissing again, Keith's hands pushing Lance's jacket back and off his shoulders. “Keith, are you trying to undress me?” Lance asks in a scandalous whisper, lips trailing down Keith's jawline.

“Shut up.” Keith breathes with a laugh, forcing the jacket off Lance and tossing it aside.

“Mm,” Lance hums lips finding their way to the crook of Keith's neck and biting at the skin gently, Keith shuffling around under Lance and bottom lip pressed between his teeth to hold back the moan building in his throat. He can feel Lance's hands trailing down his chest and sliding under his shirt to trail back up against bare skin. Lance's lips still pressing kisses to his neck and teeth nibbling at the skin after each kiss. Keith's breathing a little hard, skin tingling after each touch and his mind racing. It felt like utter bliss, kisses being pressed to his neck and hands on his abdomen... on his hips, tracing the waistband on his pants and undoing the button on his jeans, the zipper and—and _panic_.

“Lance!” Keith cries out hands flying down to grab Lance's hands and stop him from doing anything else. “Stop, Lance stop.” he sounds out of breath and his eyes are wide, heart racing but not in the way he would've liked.

“K-Keith? Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't—I'm sorry.” and then Lance isn't between his legs anymore, he isn't even hovering over him. Instead he's on the other end of the bed, face hidden in his hands as he apologizes into his palms. Lance's mind racing as one thought repeats over and over in his head.

_Despite being married always make sure there is consent_

“Lance, it's fine, you're fine, I was just caught off guard.” Keith promises, sitting up and reaching out to touch the taller boys shoulders.

“I'm really sorry though, okay? I didn't think, I wasn't thinking.”

“It's fine, really, it's just a little too soon... we don't even know what we are yet.”

Peeking between his fingers, Lance smiles just slightly. “We're humans, you dork.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Oh, right, relationship wise, right?” Lance asks, hands dropping to his lap and shit eating grin curling on his lips.

“Right.”

“We're married.” and there it is. The comment that makes Keith groan and reach for a pillow to slap in Lance's face. Laughing, Lance pulls the pillow away and tosses himself forward, bringing Keith down against the mattress with laughter. “We can just lay here and talk for a bit if you want.”

“I'd like that.” Keith nods, twisting in Lance's grip so they're face to face on the bed. “Tell me about those rules your parents taught you.”

“All thirty of them?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Lance hums, reaching out and pushing some of Keith's bangs out of his eyes. “The first one is something like 'a good proposal is the key to marriage. A proposal you'll never forget is what makes a happy marriage' which, I think our proposal was pretty memorable if I do say so myself.” Keith chuckles at that and nods.

“Yeah, you were the bride who proposed.”

“Oh shut it,” they're both laughing and Lance is positive he likes being this close and comfortable with Keith. He loves it. “Another rule is 'never be angry at the same time' but like at each other, you know? Like don't go to bed angry at each other basically.”

“We broke that rule an awful lot.” Keith points out.

“Yeah, but we worked on it, look at us now.” Lance points out, tilting his head to kiss the tip of Keith's nose. “Okay, so another rule is 'never yell at each other unless the house is on fire' and well—”

Keith bursts into laughter, sitting up and taking a deep breath. “Oh god, that's one rule we'll never be able to follow I think.”

“Hey! I tried, no kidding, I tried to not yell at you ever since our accidental marriage.” Lance sits up, arms wrapping around Keith's waist to pull him back to lay down again. “Anyway, that one has a follow up rule, 'If the house actually is on fire make sure you both make it out safely... _then_ yell at each other.' which I think makes perfect sense.”

“It does, the house would probably be on fire because of you though.” Keith laughs, turning to look at Lance.

“I take offense to that considering I know how to at least mildly cook, do you even know how to boil water Keith?”

“I lived on my own for a year, of course I do.” Keith huffs, trying his best to hide his smile. “Alright, come on, what are some other rules.”

“Well since we're out of order already I'll tell you one of my favorites. 'Always have faith in each other, even when one of you does something stupid.'”

“Why's that one of your favorites? Because you do a lot of stupid stuff?” Keith teases, Lance rolling his eyes and nuzzling his face up to Keith's neck.

“Possibly. But mainly because faith is my thing. I think all relationships should be built on faith and trust and that rule is all about that. Because if one of us does something stupid the other should still have faith in the one being stupid, you know?”

Keith is silent for a second before nodding. “Yeah, I like that rule too. What's one you think I would like the best?”

“Tough question...” Lance hums, a few silent breathes go by before he answers. “I think you'd like 'Home is not a place but a person. Be each others home.'” Lance can feel Keith tense up for a second and decides to give an explanation. “Because of your past. You told me you lost two different families and that you went from foster home to foster home. And then after Shiro disappeared you left the Garrison and lived in that shack and I doubt that place was your home, because it wasn't. Back then your home was with Shiro and... and I hope one day I can be your home too.”

Keith's face is definitely on fire. He wasn't prepared for an explanation of such depth and meaning and... it's funny how something so _simple_ can get his heart racing. Lance wants to be considered his home. “I think you know me better than I thought.” Keith whispers and he can feel Lance smiling into his skin.

“I'm glad.”

“What other rules do you like?”

“'Protect each other. Always have each others backs.'”

“I like that one.” Keith whispers, moving his hand to touch Lance's hand and lace their fingers together. “These rules work for relationships in general I think, friendships too.”

“They do. They're rules for love. And friendship should be built on love too.” Lance agrees, thumb stroking Keith's hand and swinging his leg up to hug over Keith's waist with a laugh. “What was it like living in that shack?”

“Hot.”

“Well, yeah you lived in the desert.” they both laugh at that and Keith shrugs after their laughter dies down.

“Lonely I guess. I had a lot of time on my hands and I spent it looking for that energy calling for me, the blue lion. Your lion. I also... I read some conspiracy theories while out there.”

“Oh my god, you have a thing for cryptids don't you?” Lance chuckles, Keith squeezing his hand with a whine.

“Shut up, big foot and nessy are real, I know they are.” there's more laughter from Lance and Keith can't help but laugh along. “Alright, whatever. This is _sort of_ funny, but sometimes there were animals that came along at night and it would freak me out.”

“You probably thought it was a cryp didn't you?” Lance teases earning a slap to his shoulder.

“What was it like growing up with such a big family?” Keith asks, noticing for the first time the faint outline of stars throughout Lance's room. On the walls, the door, the ceiling, they're everywhere and he wants to ask how they got there.

“Honestly? Exhausting sometimes, but I loved it. I love each and every one of my family members, even if during the holidays it feels like we could fill an entire town on our own.” Keith wants to relate, wants to have a family _that_ big. “Sometimes it got annoying, like my younger sister Yahira, she was like a cheap carbon copy of me but as a girl and everybody used to favor her and pander to her and all that. Everybody called her Yaha but I'm petty so I always called her Yahira even though she hated it.”

“You're a terrible big brother.” Keith laughs, curling his shoulders up when Lance licks his neck. “Gross, did you just lick me?” he wants to sound angry but his laughter makes that impossible.

“Oh shut up, you didn't mind my lips being all over your neck a few minutes ago.” and to prove his point he kisses Keith's neck a few more times.

“I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Where did the stars come from?”

“Huh? The big bang.” Lance answers in all serious, Keith groaning with a roll of his eyes and pointing to the ceiling. Lance's gaze follows Keith's finger, “Oh! Allura and I painted them. Back during those three days we didn't talk and she found me on the observatory deck one night and I told her about my homesickness and she held my hand like my older sister Mila used to. She found some paint that glowed in the dark and it changes with your mood too and we spent a few hours covering my walls.” he explains, turning and touching one of the stars on the wall beside his bed. “I think Allura is a lot like my older sister.”

The stars all look a faint yellow to Keith and he wants to ask what the color means but decides against it. “I noticed Coran and Allura seem to know just how to help you out often. Allura with the stars and Coran with the advice.”

“I guess, but I'm pretty sure Allura plays favorites and Hunk is her favorite.” Lance sounds bitter as he speaks and Keith has to swallow his laugh.

“Right and Shiro favors me, right?”

“What? No, no way. He favors Pidge.”

Keith feels his eyes narrow at nothing in particular and then he's sitting up and turning to look at Lance. “Why?”

“Because he's always so nice to her, he _hugged her once_ , Pidge told Hunk and Hunk told me. And he's never too hard on Pidge either, remember when he told Pidge to train with Allura?”

“Maybe it's because she's a kid?” Keith tosses out, looking like he'd just been told the biggest scandal of the century.

“No way, everybody plays favorites. Coran likes me the best even.”

“Lance what the fuck? That leaves... just me?!”

“Sorry Keith, you're _my_ favorite though.” Lance grins, holding his arms out for Keith.

“That's not the same, you're supposed to like me the best. I think we need to have a group meeting, Shiro will set you right and tell you I'm his favorite.”

“Give it a rest Keith, I was kidding, come on, lay back down.” Lance groans, pulling at Keith's arm in a failed attempt to lay him back down.

“No.”

“God you're like a five year old.”

“Shut up.”

“Point proven.”

Flopping back with a groan, Keith crosses his arms and glares in Lance's direction. “We're talking to Shiro tomorrow.”

Laughing, Lance nods and pulls Keith closer. “Alright, now can we go to sleep, please? You can stay here for tonight, I don't mind getting to spend a few more hours with you.”

“Fine but I'm gonna hate every second of it.”

“Keith shut your quiznak.”

“You're still not using that word correctly!” Keith snorts, twisting his body to press his back against Lance's chest, letting his legs curl up and his hand find Lance's hand to hold. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight angel eyes.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again sorry about any typos or grammar mistakes, I didn't proofread again r.i.p 
> 
> Also we broke double digits on chapter count!! That's so exciting we're like...33% done with this fic only, that's wild. Alright, hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you think!


	11. Rule #11 and Rule #12

 

 _Protect each other. Always have each others backs._  
  
 Hold each other's hands when one of you is in pain

 

* * *

 

 

 

It's probably the best night of sleep Lance has gotten since coming to space. Not because he slept through the night, not by any means, actually he'd woken up several times to a numb and tingly arm. But because every time he woke up he had Keith's cheek pressed to his chest, drool soaking his shirt and leg swung up to wrap around his hips. He had Keith there and even if his arm felt dead he couldn't help but fall back asleep with a smile on his face.

“Lance.”

“Mm.”

“ _Lance.”_

“Mom...”

“Lance!”

Finally startling awake, Lance glances around the room before his eyes settle on Keith's face above him, lopsided grin on his lips. “Hey. What time is it?”

“Breakfast.” Keith answers, swinging his feet out from under him and slipping off the bed. “Did you know you snore really loudly when you sleep?” Keith was blunt. Very blunt.

“Um? Do I?”

“Yeah, but it's... not an annoying kind of snoring.” Lance had to snort at that comment, was that Keith's way of saying he was cute when he snored?

“Well you drool when you sleep.” Lance quickly throws out, Keith turning to look at him. “But it's fine, it's cute. I don't mind that my shirt probably smells like morning breath now.” Lance quickly adds, Keith's eyes going wide and hand slapping over his mouth. Lance can faintly hear a loud huff of breath then a sniff and-- “Oh! No, I didn't mean your breath smells bad I just—I don't know what I meant.”

They're both silent for a few seconds, Keith's hand still over his mouth and Lance wants to apologize but he's not really sure where to even start. “We should probably head to breakfast.” Keith finally breaks the silence and all Lance can do is nod, sliding off the bed to pull on his shoes and follow after Keith into the hall. They walk to the dining hall in silence, every few steps Lance glancing down at their hands, Keith's hand so, _so_ close to his.

They don't hold hands.

It's a bit disappointing but when they finally sit down at the breakfast table everybody else is already eating. Lance hands Keith a bowl before grabbing one for himself. He's mixing his goo around when he notices Hunk staring at him, questioning look in his eyes. “Keith and I are boyfriends!” Lance shouts across the table, a very loud spit take emitting from Keith, Shiro falling victim to a coughing fit, Pidge cackling, Hunk going wide eyed and Allura and Coran glancing from one paladin to the next.

“That's a lie!” Keith all but shouts, palms slamming down hard against the table, sporks rattling against their bowls.

“What!” Lance shrieks , swiveling in his seat to full on stare down Keith.

“You're lying! Shiro, he's lying, we never agreed we were boyfriends!”

“I thought that was clear after we slept together!” Lance huffs, Shiro and Hunk both gasping and Pidge seeming to burst into an even louder fit of laughter.

“W-we didn't sleep together! Lance what the--”

“No, you guys are sick. Sleeping doesn't mean sexual, we literally just slept together. Look your drool is still on my shirt.” Lance snaps, pulling at his shirt to show off the darker patch of fabric on his chest. “Doesn't that basically make us boyfriends?”

“You're crazy.” Keith breathes out slowly, a smile visibly pulling at the corners of his lips as Lance's eyes twitch in agitation.

“Keith do you want to be my boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Good!”

“ _Good.”_

“Great!”

“Fantastic!” Keith snaps, both boys looking ready to jump into a fight.

“Oh for the love of—shut up. We get it.” Pidge cuts in, shoving her seat back and snatching her bowl off the table. “I'm gonna go finish my food somewhere I won't have the urge to barf it back up.”

Lance wants to stick his tongue out at Pidge's receding form but he holds back the childish urge instead, opting to shoot Keith a cheeky grin. “So this is it? We're... official?”

Keith looks like the realization suddenly dawned on him, eyes widening slowly and cheeks tinting a light pink. “Y-yeah, I guess so.”

“Oh man, this is great, Hunk did you hear that?” Lance's cheeky grin is replaced by a full blown grin and two thumbs up in Hunk's direction. The yellow paladin only shakes his head in mock disappointment but smiles nonetheless.

“As happy as I am for the both of you,” Allura begins, catching everybody's attention. “I do still expect you both to keep it professional.”

“Of course.”

The rest of breakfast Lance seems to glance at Keith every few minutes, cheeks filling with a blush. As subtle as Lance believes he is, nobody misses the looks and blushes but nobody comments on it either. Keith seems to stare at his bowl of goo harder than necessary and maybe once or twice his eyes seem to glance at Lance for a fraction of a second before returning to his goo.

Once breakfast is done with, Lance, Keith and Hunk sit at the end of the table, chatting about anything and everything until Keith finally gets.

“I should probably start heading out. I was planning to go down and train for a bit.” he announces, bowl in hand and lingering by Lance's chair as if expecting something.

“Oh, yeah. I'll head down to the training deck in a little while.” Lance smiles, very aware of Hunk's eyes focused on the both of them. “Catch ya' later?”

“Yeah.” Keith nods, turning to leave before Lance grabs his wrist.

“Keith wait,” jumping to his feet Lance quickly kisses Keith's cheek and promptly drops back into his seat. “Have fun.”

“Y-yeah.” Keith nods, face going through twenty different shades of red before he finally leaves the dining room. Lance's face is tilted down in a poor attempt to hide the wild blush on his cheeks from Hunk.

“You know, I never thought I'd see the day both you _and_ Keith were a flustered mess. But here we are, in space, piloting lions and both of you flustered.” Hunk teases, earning himself a groan from Lance. “So what happened?”

“We... uh, we kissed?” Lance laughs, lifting his arms to rest both elbows on the table and cup his face. “A lot and talked while cuddling and... yeah.”

“Well, I for one, am proud of you for working this out.” the screeching of Hunk's chair being pushed back is enough to cause Lance to look up past his hands. “I'm happy for the two of you.”

“Thanks buddy,” Lance smiles, Hunk giving him a two fingered salute before leaving him in the dining hall alone.

Lance is done eating, he's been done for a while but that doesn't stop him from sitting at the table and staring at his empty bowl with the goofiest of grins on his face. He's thinking about every little thing about Keith, the drooling, the way his hair looks when he first wakes up. The tiny smile Keith has when Lance says something painfully funny. He thinks about how amazing it is to finally call Keith his boyfriend—

_Boyfriend._

“Keith's my boyfriend.” Lance breathes out with a snort. “Boyfriend.” he repeats, sliding down in his seat in an attempt to stop the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. He likes the sound of that though and the way boyfriend and Keith seem to naturally go together in a sentence. His only wonder is why it had taken him this long to get here.

**o.O.o**

Keith is almost down to the training room when a hand on his shoulder forces him to stop. Glancing over his shoulder, Keith's eyes find Shiro and a small frown on his face.

“Keith?”

“Shiro.”

“What happened to taking a break from Lance for your health?” Shiro questions in that tone Keith hates. His hand leaves Keith's shoulder and finds its way to his own hip instead.

“We talked it out.” Keith shrugs, Shiro clearly not convinced. “I told him last night that I wanted him to stop and just leave me alone but then he kissed my teeth and we talked everything out. It's no big deal, Shiro this is fine, we're not dancing around the bush anymore.”

“Beating around the bush.” Shiro quickly corrects, Keith's frown deepening. “Uh—sorry. Anyway though, Keith just be careful, alright? I worry about you. I don't want you getting hurt because of this.”

Keith lets out a frustrated groan and takes a step back from Shiro. “Look, I can handle this, it's fine. I like Lance and—and he likes me and we're.... we're you know now.”

“Boyfriends...?”

“Yes, that.” Keith nods adding a small _hmph_ to the end of his words.

“You can't even say the word?” and not Shiro is snickering and Keith is _not_ okay with that.

“I can. Boyfriends. See?” the victory is short lived when Shiro continues to chuckle.

“Say it with Lance in the sentence too. Say Lance is your boyfriend.” Shiro is baiting him and Keith knows it but he's not one to back down so easily.

“I can and I will.” Keith snaps, holding back his pout as best he can. “Lance is... my—my boy...friend.” the blush that quickly spreads across his cheeks and fills his ears is definitely not overlooked by Shiro. He's in a fit of laughter and Keith looks ready to swing at Shiro for laughing. “S-shut up! It's not funny.”

“Man how I've missed messing with you. It feels like it's been years since I've gotten you all worked up.” Shiro says once his laughter dies down, hand reaching out to ruffle Keith's hair only to be slapped away. “Alright, I'll leave you to it.”

Keith is practically fuming with embarrassment when Shiro finally leaves and so he jumps right into training. He skips level one and two and goes straight for three without so much as warming up. Maybe that's his first mistake and where things go wrong when the alarms start to blare. He's caught off guard by the sirens and the bot ends up slashing a cut across Keith's arm, bayard slipping from his grip.

His next mistake is not picking it up right away but instead focusing on shutting down the training system. His third mistakes is freezing in place as soon as everything goes silent and the lights flicker off. His fourth and last mistakes is having his back to the training rooms entrance. And that's how things go black for Keith before he's even had time to focus on getting to his armor and to the control deck with the others.

o.O.o

Lance is on his way back to the rooms when the alarms suddenly begin to blare. His first instinct is to get to his paladin armor and then the control deck where the others would be. But that instinct is quickly shadowed when the alarms go silent and the lights begin to flicker until they shut off, leaving only a faint glow of the emergency lights.

“What the...” Lance whispers to himself in a panic. Already near the rooms, Lance runs up to Keith's door, maybe he had left the training deck and was in there already. “Keith! Keith, hey are you in there?”

There's no sound and the door won't budge but the lack of response convinces him that maybe Keith is still in the training deck or maybe the control room. He's running down the halls, they're all empty and far too silent and Lance wants to scream out everybody's names but he knows better.

He's running on autopilot as he races down the halls. Already nearing the stairs that lead down to the training rooms, but he freezes when he hears a loud humming that shouldn't be there. Hiding behind one of the large metal pillars, Lance tries to force his breathing to slow but he's in too much of a panic. When the humming gets too close he takes in a deep breath and holds it, sitting in silence as a Galra bot walks by, weapon humming loudly. Lance is wide eyed, completely frozen in place until the bot turns a corner and he dips out from behind the pillar, running down the stairs the bot had just come from.

They were in the castle. They had taken out the main power source. That bot had come from downstairs where the training deck was.

_Protect each other. Always have each others backs._

_Keith. Keith, he had to get to Keith. He—he had to._

Lance skids to a stop just outside of the training deck, the doors wide open. Peeking in he spots three more bots patrolling around the room and Keith slumped against the far back wall. As far as Lance could tell he was at least still breathing, still alive but out cold.

He didn't have his bayard, didn't have a weapon didn't—was that Keith's bayard on the floor? Maybe... _maybe_ he could get to the bayard and _maybe_ it would work for him? It was risky but worth a shot, if need be he could always grab the training bots weapon too. Lance studied the way the Galra bots moved first, learned when they were the furthest apart from each other and after several minutes of watching them Lance decided it was time to go in on the count of three.

One.

_Get the bayard._

Two.

_Kick Galra butt._

Three.

_For Keith._

With that final thought, Lance sprinted through the doors and past the first bot. Nearing the bayard, Lance slid down to a stop and grabbing the bayard from the floor, swinging his arm up he nearly shouted in victory when the bayard flashed a bright red and began to change form. What he hadn't expected for it to do was shift into a thinner rifle with an extended piece at the end, sharp enough to be a knife. So using the other paladins bayards gave them a combined weapon? He'd have to mention that to Allura and the others.

Shoving all thoughts aside, Lance quickly aimed at the nearest bot, blasting a hole straight through its chest. The other two ran at him together, the bought behind him closer than the one in front of him. Shooting the one in front first, Lance quickly swing the rifle out and spun in time to slash the knife across the third bots chest. The bot sparked and stumbled but held up its gun still. Ducking under the blast, Lance kicked off the floor and sent the red bayard through the bots chest. Finally, the thing dropped its weapon and went silent.

Panting, Lance pushed the bot off his weapon and quickly raced to Keith's side. Dropping the red bayard, he pulled Keith into his arms and shook him lightly. “Keith, hey, Keith, come on.” his tone sounded frantic even to him, but who could blame him? “Keith!”

Said person finally stirred, hand reaching up to grab a fistful of Lance's shirt. “Huh?”

“Keith! You're okay, you're gonna be okay.” Lance smiled, hand moving to rest against Keith's cheek. “I'm here.”

“Lance?”

“Yeah, it's me.”

“Heh,” Keith's laugh is breathless, eyes blinking open to look at Lance. “Are you going to forget this arm cradling too?”

“Oh shut it Keith.” Lance laughs, pulling Keith closer and kissing his cheek. “I was so... I thought--” Lance's words are cut off by a small hiccup and he can feel Keith shift in his hold to wrap an arm around his neck.

“I'm fine.”

“I know just—I was--” Lance jumps as soon as he hears heavy footsteps and ragged breathing enter the room.

“Lance! Keith, you're both okay?” it's Shiro. His hand is glowing and he's panting, looking around the room at the already dealt with Galra bots.

“Peachy.” Lance nods, grip tightening around Keith. “Where are the others?”

“I haven't seen any of the others yet, they might be in the control room. That's where Coran and Allura were before the attack.” Shiro explains, moving to stand beside them before crouching down to examine Keith. “Keith are you okay?”

“Just dizzy, I'm fine.” Keith nods, pulling away from Lance's hold to sit up on his own. “They caught me off guard is all.”

“Shiro we should get him up to the control room.” Lance's brows knit together when he notices the slash on Keith's arm. “Wait a second, Keith did they hurt you?”

“What? No, that was the training bot.” Keith answers, tugging his sleeve down enough to cover his upper arm. “Like I said, I'm fine.”

“Why isn't it bleeding?” Shiro frowns, reaching out to grab Keith's arm.

“Let go!” Keith snaps, trying to pull away from Shiro's grip only to have Lance grab both of his wrists. Shiro pulls his sleeve up and examines the slash, eyebrows rising in surprise.

“It's cauterized already.” Shiro runs a finger over the burnt wound and flinches away Keith lets out a hiss. “Sorry, sorry, the training bot did this?”

“Yes, Shiro. In case you haven't noticed the bots weapon is just a heat energy sword. It's impractical, it might cause one heck of a scar but the heat itself cauterizes a wound as soon as it causes it. That's why it didn't even bleed.” Keith pulls his hands free from Lance's grip and again pulls his sleeve down to cover the burnt wound. “Can we go now? Before more bots show up?”

“I found out we can use each others bayards.” Lance quickly throws up, both Shiro and Keith looking at him in confusion. “I didn't have my bayard so I used Keith's.”

“Did it give you a sword?” Keith asks, interest sparked.

“No, actually it gave me a rifle with a knife at the end. It's pretty cool.” Lance shrugs.

“Alright, we can discuss that with Allura and Coran later, for now, Keith can you walk?” Shiro asks, holding a hand out for Keith to take.

“Like I said, _I'm fine_.” Keith nods, resting his hand on the wall instead and pushing himself up. He stumbles a bit but Lance quickly grabs his arm, keeping him steady. “I just need a minute, I got up too fast.”

“I can carry you to the control room if you need.” Shiro offers, with a frown.

“I'm fine!” Keith growls, pushing out of Lance's grip and picking up his bayard from the floor. “Let's go.”

Lance grabs one of the Galra bots laser guns and chases after Shiro and Keith. They don't see many bots the whole way to the control room and upon getting there Allura and Coran seem to be working on something.

“Allura?” said person turns to face the three paladins entering the room. “What happened?” Shiro continues, glancing around to see several bots strewn around the room.

“A Galra ship traveled through a wormhole directly beside us and attached to our west wing. It was full of bots, no actual Galra soldiers and they didn't bother going after the lions, they only traveled around the halls. Coran and I running through the security feed to see what exactly they could have been doing but it doesn't show much. The ship detached itself several minticks after making contact.” Allura explains, returning to the hologram she had been scanning through.

“Hunk and Pidge?” Lance questions, walking up beside Allura to look at the hologram despite not understanding a thing on it.

“Behind you.” Pidge announces, Hunk at her side as they walk into the control room, weapons at the ready.

Keith asks the question that was on everybody's minds, “So if nobody was hurt and they didn't go after the lions then what exactly was the point of their laughable attack?”

“We aren't sure.” Allura mumbles, frown deepening as she scans through more slides on the hologram.

“The Galra have never been known to do anything without a purpose.” Coran throws out, peeking over Allura's shoulder and pointing to somebody on the screen. “Perhaps it was a rogue ship or abandoned and the bots were running on autopilot to attack us if seen.”

“Has that ever happened?” Shiro asks, both Allura and Coran shaking their heads in response. “If they're off the ship already then we have a moment to breath and focus on Keith, right?”

“What? Why me? I'm fine.” comes Keith's protest not even two seconds later.

“You had your arm sliced open, knocked out, you probably have a concussion?” Lance quickly supplies, the others shooting worried looks at Keith.

“Your arm was sliced open?” Pidge asks in a doubtful tone, shuffling up to Keith to peek at both his arms.

“Training bot.” Keith snaps, folding his arms. “I'm _fine!”_

“I agree with Shiro,” Allura starts, “We should at the very least have you looked over. We can discuss the attack in further detail down in the medical bay.”

“The ship is still off, the heal pods can't do anything for me if they're off.” Keith points out as if that alone were enough to save him from the unneeded trip.

Coran taps a few things on the screen and then the lights fade in and the familiar whir of the ship running fills the silence. “Ah there we go, the good old off and on trick seems to still work.”

“There you have it, time for a well overdo check up, Keith.” Shiro announces, hand gripping Keith's shoulder tightly.

The trip down to the medical ward is uneventful other than the few complaints Keith throws out. Half way down, Lance slips his hand into Keith's, eyes focused on the floor but blush coating his cheeks. Keith doesn't bring attention to the small gesture but he does give Lance's hand a small squeeze in acknowledgment. One thought running through Lance's mind the whole way. _Hold each other's hands when one of you is in pain._ Even if Keith denied being in any real pain, Lance found it fit to hold his hand, that and _maybe_ he selfishly wanted to have physical contact with his boyfriend.

Once in the medical room Lance and Keith part ways as Coran does a full body check up on Keith. Coran clears him as having a minor concussion from the apparent blow to the head he received and the burn on his arm requires a small amount of burn cream. It works almost instantly and both Pidge and Hunk are in awe at the science behind it. Hunk admiring once again just how much more advanced Alteans seemed to be.

Once the check up is over, Lance is back at Keith's side almost immediately, hands interlocking once again.

“So the Galra attack?” Pidge starts, eyes lingering on Keith and Lance's interlocked hands for a second. “We're just going with it being a fluke? I think we should be more worried about it than we currently are.”

“The ships security feed shows that any and all bots that were on-board have been dealt with. There's no current intruders, no threat at the moment.” Allura explains. “They breached a sub level of the ship, any exit that leads to it is locked and secured as of now. We need to stop and collect some materials before we can attempt repairs on the hole they left behind.”

“Mildly ignored what I asked,” Pidge sighs, “I meant, should we be worried about threats like this in the future? What if they have a whole fleet coming after us next time? If those bots were rogue well imagine what their bots could do in an actual attack. I mean— _come on!_ They managed to knock Keith out!”

“I was caught off guard!” Keith defends himself, Lance catching his shoulder to stop him from climbing off the exam table just yet.

“We'll just have to be on high alert,” Shiro finally speaks. “There's no way for us to know what they were going after today—”

“Oh for the love off—they're tracking us!” Keith snaps, all eyes turning to him.

“Excuse me?” Allura questions in disbelief.

“They've got to be tracking us, the bots were some kind of diversion while they planted some tracker. You said so yourself, they were only on us for a few minticks, whatever long that is.” Keith explains, looks of realization crossing most of the paladins faces.

“Doubtful,” Coran answers, finger in the air. “As soon as the ship was powered back on it would have alerted us if we were being tracked. Just like when any enemy ship sets their coordinates to ours we're automatically alerted.”

“Well what if Keith is right, huh?” Lance sputters, free hand falling to rest on his hip. “Keith knows what he's talking about, maybe the Galra has some special new tracking form. I mean, you guys _were_ frozen for ten thousand years, a lot has changed in that time. The Galra have probably advanced at least a hundred times more than what you last remember.”

Allura wears a look of disapproval and the moment her lips part to talk she's interrupted by Shiro. “They both bring up valid points, Princess. Ten thousand years is a long time and humans have advanced a lot in just a century, imagine what an alien race like the Galra can do in ten thousand years. Having Hunk and Pidge look through the systems for any unknown software wouldn't hurt.”

Allura almost looks defeated the moment Shiro finishes his words but she quickly recovers her facial expression. “Very well, Hunk, Pidge, I'll grant you both full access to the ships systems. Coran will help you both in translations and understanding of certain software. As Shiro implied, it's better to be safe than sorry.”

“Do you want us to start like, now? Right away? Because I'd feel a lot safer if we figured this out sooner than later.” Hunk questions, Pidge nodding in agreement.

“Now would be fine, yes.”

“We'll get right on it Princess.” Coran speaks over his shoulder following Pidge and Hunk as they leave.

Lance watches as Allura shoots Shiro a look and neither speaks a word but they seem to understand each others facial expressions enough to both nod. “Lance,” said person snaps his attention to Shiro and gives a small nod. “Can you watch over Keith while the burn cream finishes drying up? Coran set a timer, once that goes off you're both free to leave and get some rest.”

“Sure can do,” Lance nods, Keith letting out a scuff beside him.

Shiro and Allura leave and Lance quickly turns to face Keith. “I can't believe Shiro asked you to babysit me.”

“It's not babysitting if I was planning on staying here anyway.” Lance points out, stepping up to the exam table to stand between Keith's legs. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. I was always feeling fine, you guys worry too much.”

Lance frowns at the response and pulls his hand free of Keith's grip, almost smiling at the small whine that emits from Keith at the lost contact. Both hands move to grip Keith's thighs and he leans in closer, pressing the tip of his nose to Keith's. “Is it a crime to worry about my boyfriend?”

Lance loves the way he can see the blush unfold on Keith's face from their close proximity and the way the gears in his mind seem to come to a halt at the word boyfriend. “I—no? What?” Keith stammers, eyes blinking rapidly.

“Good.” Lance smiles, tilting his head and pressing his lips to Keith's in a soft and quick kiss. Pulling away, Lance leans his head down and rests his forehead against Keith's cheek. “I thought they were going to take you.”

“What?”

“I was running down to the training deck when I saw a bot coming up from the stairs and my first thought was that they were going to take you. Maybe it was a stupid worry but I thought I was going to lose you.” Lance whispers, hands gripping Keith's thighs just a little tighter. “I didn't want to lose you.”

Keith doesn't talk and from how closely they're pressed together Lance can faintly feel Keith's heart racing in his chest. “Lance...”

“Don't.”

“Why...” Keith pauses, seemingly unsure of what exactly he's trying to ask. “Why would you think that?”

“Everything good in my life has always been taken from me.” Lance whispers, grip on Keith's thighs loosening enough to slide his hands up to his hips and pull him closer. Keith finally lets his arms wrap around Lance and they sit in silence for a few minutes, just holding each other.

“Everything?” Keith whispers when he feels Lance kiss his jaw.

“It's childish but when I was younger I was still really young when my younger brother was born. It felt like my parents love was being taken away when they stopped giving me so much attention. My Mama Sandra died a year before I left for the Garrison.”

“W-wait, your mom?” Keith stutters, unconsciously tightening his arms around Lance.

“Grandma,” Lance corrects. “She and my grandpa liked to be called Mama and Papa.” Lance shrugs. “Anyway though... not that it's your fault or anything but my first year at the Garrison I was a cargo pilot because the fighter pilot class was full. It's stupid too but I felt like my potential and dreams and all that were being taken away.” Lance's grip tightens around Keith and he turns his head to kiss Keith's cheek, as if that alone would be enough to prove that the Garrison didn't matter anymore. “Then... well then I finally get to be in fighter class and it's taken away by... well space. My family, my home, career, everything was taken the moment I got into the blue lion. Don't get wrong, I love you guys, I love Blue and I wouldn't give the world to change what happened but... it leaves me feeling empty knowing that my family and home were taken from me.”

Keith is speechless, really, what was he supposed to say? He didn't quite understand how Lance was feeling, he'd never had a real home back on Earth. His home had been with Shiro and they were here together. Lance had a whole household full of people he left behind it.... it made Keith wonder what having a big family really felt like. And it made him doubt he wanted anything like that by the way Lance seemed to hurt being away from them.

“And then you... the Galra, I just saw them and I didn't know where you were and I—I thought I'd lose you too.” Lance finishes, burying his face against Keith's neck.

“L-Lance are you... are you crying?”

“No.” Lance huffs, but the wet feeling against Keith's neck begs to differ. He let's it drop though, instead running a hand through Lance's hair and pressing his lips into a thin line. How was he supposed to comfort a person?

“It's... it's okay. I'm still here, Lance.” his voice is soft and he's trying his best to sound as comforting as possible. “It's going to take more than some Galra robots to take me from me.” he feels Lance begin to tremble in his arms and he almost worries that he's said something wrong. But those thoughts are quickly put to an end by the lips pressed to his neck.

“I really care about you, Keith. A lot.” Lance's voice is broken, a hiccup following his words and still, it's enough to get Keith's heart racing again.

“I care about you a lot too, Lance.” _I love you._

There were several ways to say those three words without saying them and this was definitely one of them. Lance had said he wanted to one day be able to say he loved Keith but he needed time to get there. Maybe they weren't there yet, maybe Keith was dying to hear those words and say them but the wait would be well worth it. He had a feeling that if something like _I really care about you_ could make him this happy then the day they actually said those three words... he might actually momentarily die.

But the wait would be worth it.

Because Lance was worth it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah boy. Ah boooy. There it is, they're officially boyfriends, how do y'all feel? Did that slow burn last long enough for y'all? Also ha, can you believe I've written 36k+ words and these two have YET to say I love you to each other? I'm not kidding, they haven't said "I love you" directly to each other yet, is that wild or what? It'll be while before they actually say it btw. As for any typos or grammar mistakes that might be in this, I'm really sorry! I literally finished writing this chapter 10 minutes ago and have yet to proof read it. But Monday is almost over so I wanted to get the update out on time, I'll go back and fix any errors probably tonight or tomorrow. I ended up almost forgetting to write this chapter because my aunt (who I live with) had her twins on Thursday and I've been so busy helping with the kids and writing my other stories too that I nearly forgot to write this.
> 
> Also!! If you haven't, I'd totally suggest checking out my newest fic [Kiss My Ice](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8541916/chapters/19582732) it's gonna be a wild ride. Basically ice skater Lance, pining and in denial Keith, Keith meeting sudden fame when he's dubbed Lance's "Mystery Guy" and these two dorks falling in love pretty quickly in that fic. No slow burn in that story if you guys want some good stuff. 
> 
> Or if you want some really painful klance check out [Six Heartbreaks](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8447395/chapters/19353376) in which Lance plays Keith like a piano for years and Keith suffers through it because he loves Lance. RIP my poor boy Keith.


	12. Rule #13 and Rule #14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Death. Blood. Gore. Implied death. There's also some taunting and victim blaming but it's really brief and it's not extremely graphic. But I did bold whole scene that might be too much for certain readers, you can skip that whole section.

Trust in each other for comfort. Even when your fear seems silly

&

When one of you is afraid, hold each other through the night.

* * *

******  
**

 

He doesn’t remember heading back to his room. The last thing Lance can remember is sitting in the infirmary with Keith and crying into his shoulder. Stifling a yawn, Lance stretches his arms above his head and lets out a groan before kicking his blanket off.

He finds himself wondering if Keith had stayed in the medical bay or gone to his room. Maybe he’d been so exhausted by the time he went to bed and that was why he was blanking on everything?

Pulling his shoes on, Lance shuffled out of his room and down the hall to Keith’s room. It was empty, bed perfectly made which meant one of two things. Either Keith had slept in the infirmary after all or it was already breakfast time and Keith had done his bed. Still, something about the whole situation made his stomach twist in knots uncomfortably.

Swallowing back whatever worry he felt, Lance quickly headed down several halls to the dining hall, hoping to find Keith or any of the others at least. But upon arriving there the place is empty, no goo made and set on the tables, no Allura chatting with Shiro or Hunk singing as finished stirring the alien food. It was really off putting and… it made him worry even _more_ than before. Where was everybody? Had they left for a mission and he’d missed the memo?

**Just when he was about to grab some food for himself he hears a piercing shriek and everything stops. A chill runs up his spine and his blood runs cold.**

“ ** _Pidge!”_ the name leaves his lips after he's already turned tail and bolted through the doorway. Something must've happened. Maybe heavy equipment fell on her. Her legs are crushed. Maybe she accidentally sliced her own arm off. Maybe--**

**Maybe the truth is more brutal and gruesome than anything he could've imagined. “Pidge!” he chokes out at the sight once he turns the final corner. She's whimpering, body shaking and... and Galra sword straight through her abdomen, pinning her to the ground. There's blood pooled around her body and tears streaking down her face. “Pidge...” Lance repeats, dropping to his knees beside her. “What—what happened—where are the others?”**

**She doesn't respond right away, Lance isn't even sure she heard him but when their eyes meet Pidge lets out a sob. “I-I'm sc-cared.”**

**His heart breaks.**

“ **It's okay... I-I'm here. Where are the others? I c-can get you to a—a heal pod. Pidge--”**

“ **Lance!” she croaks, cutting him off. “They ha-ave the others.”**

“ **Who?”**

“ **Zark...Zarkon.” she chokes, shoulders shaking forward in a sudden convulsion. “They...help them.”**

“ **What about you?!”**

“ **I'm fucked. Lance sa-ave them whil-le you can. Training... the training de-eck.” she sobs, grasping the blade of the sword tightly, as if to pull it out. “Go!”**

**Stumbling back at the sudden change of tone, Lance nods violently, tears blurring his vision. “I'll get help—you'll be fine. You—you've gotta be fine, Pidge.” Lance cries, racing down the halls, suddenly very aware that his bayard isn't on him. He's got nothing but he sees no Galra soldiers on the way. It feels too easy and the panic in his chest only swells further.**

**But his world seems to come to a complete stop when he spots several bots outside of the training deck, all taken down. And Hunk. Sweet, courageous, caring and unmoving Hunk. His best friend, the guy who's always been there for him.**

**Stumbling up to his best friends body, a shaky hand finds its way to Lance's mouth and muffles to scream he lets out. It's a sight he knows he'll never forget, seeing his best friend laying there, gone. How would Hunk's mothers take this... would Lance even make it back to tell them their son died a heroic death?**

**He would. For the sake of Pidge and Hunk.**

**He spots Hunk's bayard near one robot and grabs it in hopes that it'll work for him. When nothing happens however, he moves to drop it by Hunk's side and finally head into the training deck. The sight that awaits him is one he would never in a million years think possible.**

**Shiro is against a wall, Galra arm gone to reveal a bloody stump where his forearm should've been. His chest is rising and falling heavily, clearly struggling for air. Across the deck Allura is on her knees, Galra blaster held to her head by...**

“ **Sendak?” Lance breathes, all eyes turning to him.**

“ **Looks like the Blue Paladin finally decided to join the blood bath.” the Galran sneers, the fist clutching Allura's hair tightening visibly.**

“ **I don't... I—I don't understand.” Lance's voice is shaky and cracks several times as he takes a few cautious steps forward. “When did—but you--”**

“ **This is your fault.” the words makes Lance's vision go blurry, especially coming from Allura. “It's all your fault!” the way she screams at him is almost worse than when that bomb went off in the observatory.**

“ **W-what?”**

“ **You did this.” Allura growls. “You killed us all! Because of the way you are. Stupid, inconsiderate, an idiot!”**

“ **A-allura!” Lance chokes out, heart racing and pounding in his ears. “You don't—that's not true!”**

“ **It is.” Shiro. “We've all always hated you, Lance... we should've kicked you out from the start. Should've known from how you acted.” even his hero... it wasn't true. It couldn't be true.**

“ **A pilot of the Garrison?” Allura cackles, Lance's head snapping back to look at her. “What a joke of a school that must've been to let you in. You're always putting us in danger. I can't believe we trusted you, Coran was right. He warned me about you.”**

“ **He d-didn't. St-top. Stop!”**

**Laughter fills the air from Allura, Shiro, even Sendak. Lance is ready to drop to his knees when a new voice cuts in.**

**Zarkon.**

“ **Foolish boy. Did you think you would take on my men single handed? And empty handed as well?” where exactly the voice is coming from, Lance isn't sure but it seems to be everywhere at once. All around him, maybe even in his head. “You brought about your own friends untimely demise. How does it feel to be solely responsible for the fall of Voltron?”**

“ **I didn't... this wasn't me.” Lance breathes, shaking his head and looking everywhere. They were playing with him, messing with his head. These were mind games and he had to beat it.**

“ **From our understanding... the Red Paladin holds a special place in your heart.”**

“ **No.”**

“ **It would be an honest shame if something were to happen to him.”**

“ **Stop!”**

“ **You agree?”**

“ **N-no! Please! Please, don't!” he's begging, he's desperate.**

“ **What a petty excuse for a defender of the universe.” Zarkon growls, suddenly visible in the window to the control room. Lance's eyes fixating on Keith in the aliens arms. “Hardly put up a fight.”**

“ **Please...”**

“ **The rest of the paladins all fell too easily as well. And all you did was sleep through it.”**

“ **I'm begging.”**

“ **Voltron: Defender of the Universe?” the laughter is what snaps Lance. He reaches out for the nearest piece of debris and throws it with all his might at the control room window, shattering it.**

“ **Enough!”**

**Zarkon doesn't seem amused, but Lance's blood is boiling, shoulders rising and falling in quick breathes. “Enough is right.” and Lance definitely isn't prepared for what happens next. It all happens in one swift motion, Zarkon turns slightly, Keith's body is tilted slightly then Zarkon turns forward quickly, Keith's entire body moving quickly and through the window.**

“ **No!” Lance shrieks, racing forward only to have two soldiers suddenly appear and grab him. He pulls and kicks and thrashes around as he watches Keith falling, limp and unaware of his current situation. The control room is higher than Lance remembers but he knows a fall from that height--**

“ **Keith!” he's seconds from hitting the floor. “Please! I'll do anything, please!” and just before he hits--**

Lance jolts awake in his bed, blankets kicked down to around his ankles and he's drenched in sweat. His bangs are plastered to his forehead and he can hear his heart pounding harshly against his rib cage, almost painfully. “Keith.” he croaks out, throat tight and dry. He's trembling something awful and breathing feels like more of a chore than something natural.

“Keith.” he repeats, slipping off the edge of the bed on wobbly legs and racing to his door, out and into the hall. “Keith!” he doesn't mean to scream it but he does and he doesn't care as he stumbles down the hall to the Red Paladins door. “Keith! Keith! Keith!” his fist pounds against the door, the name leaving his lips with every loud knock. At this rate he's bound to wake up everybody else as well.

Finally, the door slides open and there stands a very groggy looking Keith, stiffling a yawn. “Lance? What--”

He doesn't get the chance to finish that sentence before Lance is colliding into him, knocking them both to the ground, Lance's face buried in his neck and hands clutching fistfuls of Keith's shirt from behind.

“Lance I don't understand? What's wrong? Are you okay?”

Shaking his head, Lance finally lets out a sob, Keith's entire body tensing. A single thought processing in Lance's mind.

_Trust in each other for comfort. Even when your fear seems silly._

“Lance?”

“J-just... ju-ust hold me-e?”

“Okay.” Keith's voice is soft and gentle and warm arms wrap around Lance in a soothing way. “I've got you, alright?”

They sit for several minutes on the floor, Lance crying into Keith's shoulder and Keith rubbing circles against his back lightly. When Lance's crying finally calms down some, Lance pulls him back enough to look at his face.

“Want to sit on the bed while you tell me what happened?”

Nodding, Lance climbs to his feet with some help from Keith and they move to sit on the bed. Lance sits curled up against Keith's left side, blanket pulled up around the both of them and Keith's arms around him.

“Was it a nightmare?”

“Yeah. It felt real though.” he replies, “Everybody was there. Kind of. The Galra somehow got in and they... they were ending everybody.”

“Like... killing?”

“Yeah.” Lance mumbles, pressing against Keith tighter. “Pidge first and it was horrifying, Keith. Seeing Pidge just there... she wasn't even—not yet. But she was. Then Hunk and then Allura and Shiro were blaming me. They said it was all my fault. All of it.” Keith's face visibly twists into that of pain and sorrow.

“They would never, you know that. We all lo—care about you a lot. You're our team member, if anything ever went wrong we'd never blame you. We wouldn't even blame any of the others either.”

“I know but it was real in the moment. It hit me hard because I've always been that idiot, that stupid kid who can't do anything right or useful. And then I was the reason Zarkon killed you... I pushed him. I threw the stupid debris at him and he got mad.”

Keith clears his throat and tilts his head in confusion. “Zarkon killed me because you through debris at him?”

“Yeah.”

“He's pretty lame then, isn't he?” Keith chuckles. “Getting worked up over some debris like that.” Lance lets out a laugh and nods slowly. “Are you okay, now?”

“Yeah.”

“I'm glad.”

They sit in silence for a minute, Keith halfway to sleep when Lance speaks up again. “You remember those rules to marriage I was telling you about?”

“Mhm?”

“There's one... 'when one of you is afraid, hold each other through the night' and I know it's stupid and most of those rules are too but I was hoping you'd kind of, maybe want to--”

“Lance.”

“... yeah?”

“Those rules aren't stupid,” Keith starts, “I actually like the idea of them a lot. And second of all, I wouldn't expect you to leave after having a nightmare like that.”

“Thanks. I really like sleeping with you. That's a weird thing to say isn't it?”

Both laughing, Keith shakes his head. “No, it's not. Go to sleep, Lance?”

“I am. And I'm sorry.”

“For what?”

“For being the way I am.”

Keith's mouth goes dry at the apology. Why would Lance even think he needed to apologize for something like that? “Don't be. I like you the way you are, alright? The silly, funny, caring and kind blue pilot of Voltron.” Kissing the top of Lance's hair, Keith slumps back against the pillows a bit more. “Not only that but you're handsome too. Your eyes are pretty, they kind of sparkle in just the right light. You've got some freckles that most people probably don't notice unless they look real close.”

Lance's breathing is already evening out and Keith knows the telltale signs of somebody drifting to sleep. “Don't ever apologize for being the way you are because I wouldn't want anybody else in your place or here or now. Goodnight.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP IT TOOK ME LIKE 2 MONTHS TO UPDATE THIS.
> 
> But okay, on a serious note, it took me forever because at first my laptop charger was ripped by my cousin and I didn't get a new one until November 28th. Then when I finally got it I ended up getting really caught up in 2 of my other fics and I also got a new wacom bamboo pen so I started drawing again. THEN I came home December 12th (to south carolina where my parents live) and they ended up wanting to go to Mexico for the holidays. So while in Mexico we were with our relatives every single day and I had zero time to myself so no writing got done. And I finally got home on the 4th and I started writing again and I'm going back to my usual updating schedule.
> 
> I updated Kiss My Ice yesterday and updating this today then on Wednesday I'm updating Petalis Mortis. I'm also probably gonna start a new fic for Tuesdays next week, not sure which one I wanna start next. But anyway, yeah! This is extremely short and I'm sorry, especially when you take out the bloodbath scene. I'll MAYBE update again on Thursday but no promises. 
> 
> I will warn you guys though that the Drama(TM) has not fully unravelled itself. More to come. But, I'll leave you with this: Next chapter is gonna be really sweet and good and filled with family reunions.

**Author's Note:**

> Other fics I've written or plan on writing can be found on my blog: [Bluemcclain](http://bluemcclain.tumblr.com/schedule)


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